{"id":275,"date":"2014-12-30T13:03:37","date_gmt":"2014-12-30T21:03:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/?p=275"},"modified":"2015-09-03T10:35:27","modified_gmt":"2015-09-03T17:35:27","slug":"latin-killing-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/latin-killing-english\/","title":{"rendered":"How Latin is Killing English"},"content":{"rendered":"

A recent Grammarly blog<\/a><\/span> included a great sign that actually had very little to do with the blog itself<\/a><\/span>. The sign reads, \u201cWhat do you do when you realize that Latin grammar makes more sense than English grammar?\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never actually studied Latin, so I don\u2019t know for sure that it makes more sense grammatically, but it wouldn\u2019t surprise me. As an influencing language, it is easy to assume that Latin would be simpler than the languages that it influences.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, English is an influenced language<\/strong><\/span>. What I mean is that English, especially American-English, takes pieces and parts from other languages \u2013 including Latin \u2013 and smashes them all together. Frequently, the smash results in some interesting grammar rules.<\/p>\n

Within hours of seeing that great sign, I read another blog: 7 bogus grammar \u2018errors\u2019 you don\u2019t need to worry about<\/a><\/span>. (Will. Not. Address. Formatting.) I like this blog because it vindicates my loathing of things people tried to teach me in elementary school that I just never understood (let\u2019s not go there). And the first two errors \u2013 Don\u2019t Split Infinities and Don\u2019t End a Sentence with a Preposition \u2013 can be blamed on Latin.<\/p>\n

DISCLAIMER:<\/span><\/h1>\n

I\u2019m a paid writer and editor. However, I edit for readability<\/strong><\/span>, which does not always include \u201cproper\u201d grammar. I make the distinction because sometimes what\u2019s readable is not grammatically correct and what\u2019s grammatically correct isn\u2019t always readable. END DISCLAIMER<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Go<\/a>
Go ahead and split that infinitive!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

OK, so back to grammar rules that aren\u2019t, and how they relate to Latin. Both the split infinitive and preposition rules come directly from Latin. Turns out that in Latin you can\u2019t split an infinitive or put a preposition at the end of a sentence.<\/strong><\/span> There is no rule; no rule was necessary, it is impossible to do those things in Latin. Back in the 19th<\/sup> century, everything Latin was \u201chot\u201d with the social set and the Grammar Nazis decided that English should follow suit. However, as an influenced language, English already had the ability to do those things and rules around \u201cshould\u201d only complicated things.<\/p>\n

The author of the blog, Ben Yagoda<\/a><\/span>, gave some great examples from literature, modern culture, and history of how breaking these \u201crules\u201d makes a message clearer and\/or more poignant. My personal favorite is from Winston Churchill \u2013 the smart aleck all the rest of us aspire to be<\/strong><\/span>. When criticized for ending a sentence with a preposition, his rumored reply was, \u201cThis is the type of arrant pedantry up with which I will not put.” (Please note that rarely does this kind of confusing statement actually make the message stronger.)<\/p>\n

I guess that blaming a language that hasn\u2019t been in use for centuries for why my language is one of the most convoluted things currently around is less than fair. But it made a great headline, right?<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re interested in my take on the remaining 5 \u201cbogus grammar \u2018errors\u2019\u201d provided by Mr. Yagoda, I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll get to them soon.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m always interested in comments; and if you have a favorite word or grammar rant, I love to hear those as well.<\/p>\n

-Lorrie Nicoles<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A recent Grammarly blog included a great sign that actually had very little to do with the blog itself. 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