Publication Date
7-1974
Abstract
Recently, a distinguished literary critic, speaking of the "rotten writer," said that such a person is convinced that all rules of grammar are obsolete, "now that the split infinitive has earned acceptance." 1 It is not altogether clear whether the latter part of that statement is merely intended to represent the opinion of the "rotten writer" or whether the critic himself accepts it as a foregone conclusion. In either case the wording is rather captious and unrealistic. How can the split infinitive be said to have "earned acceptance"? It has no earning power. It is not an active entity in itself, not a cause of anything but only a result, a byproduct of something else.
Recommended Citation
Foley, L. (1974). Try a Fresh Look at a Trite Subject. Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts, 14 (4). Retrieved from https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/reading_horizons/vol14/iss4/3
