From: neville attkins <[log in to unmask]>
> misreading (when they are not intend) double negatives
> for example if we are talking about a modern grammar.
> Also some expression are ugly, we can argue about to
> boldly go but would anyone want to read phrases like
The double negative is one of those rare cases where the prescriptivists won
out. It was a perfectly OK usage in 16thC English, as an intensifying form.
Shakesbard, fristance. But it was disallowed in *Latin*, so it Had To Go
(despite being a perfectly acceptable form in Greek, but those 18thC
prescriptive linguists weren't as well-educated as they thought they were).
Similarly the split infinitive -- this is "logically" impossible in Latin
(given the inflectional nature of the language) and was frowned on in
English for years as a result. But people splitted their infinitives
anyway, and finally even the good ole' OED had to accept it.
Robin
|