Re: OT: Americans and the English language

Ben Shimmin <bas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


If you could fix the split infinitive while you're at it, I'd be much
obliged.

Split infinitives are one of the things that makes English great. You
just can't do it in Russian, French, Latin, Czech...

Cheers,
Luke


--
No-one reads signatures these days.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: "Inside English" BBC Radio 4
    ... - 16 words derived from old English ... words derived from French or Latin ... If we do not consider occurrences but numbers and symbols: ...
    (soc.history.medieval)
  • Latinised surnames [was: King Henry III of England and the Comyns]
    ... and would initially seem to be derived from Latin. ... are subject to literal translation from French into English and ...  It is important to recognise that the incomers spoke French, ... syllables of the Latin translation. ...
    (soc.genealogy.medieval)
  • Re: A decent thread on medieval history - ADR says 1066 was insignificant
    ... becomes the second language of lots of people, ... French a bit later. ... almost a 'must' for the Russian nobility of the late XVIII - XIX ... English in 'Russia' picked up in the Soviet times mostly ...
    (soc.history.medieval)
  • Re: A Scandalous question...
    ... Russian or just a kind Lithuanian. ... Russian but supplemented by Lithuanian where necessary. ... The anglophone is fluent in French. ... English". ...
    (soc.culture.baltics)
  • Re: origin of verse Let not they privy members . . .
    ... intercourse-related "bad words" in English were originally perfectly respectable Anglo-Saxon words used by everybody but were displaced by words of Latin or French origin and gradually were downgraded from normal to unfashionable to unrefined to obscene. ... I assume that the poster meant that the words were not used in "literature" *of the time when they were allegedly in everyday use*. ...
    (alt.usage.english)