Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

I went back to have a look to see where I had committed such a dreadful solecism - and had been scratching my head in bewilderment. 'Split infinitives' is one of my 'things' and I am usually pretty hot on not committing the sin. So whilst I am glad it turned out not to be me, I admit that it could well have been, as even I get sloppy in old age..........................
Don't let it worry you, dear Caroline!!!!!

I'm normally a bit of a language pedant too, but there is an increasing body of opinion that not splitting infinitives is an affectation with questionable justification. Most other (west European) languages don't have two-word infinitives, so why did we English suddenly decide that splitting infinitives was a Bad Thing?

I think sometimes that avoiding splitting infinitives sounds clumsy and awkward so I have given myself permission to split them whenever I think it sounds more natural to do so

Jo wrote:

I'm normally a bit of a language pedant too, but there is an increasing body of opinion that not splitting infinitives is an affectation with questionable justification. Most other (west European) languages don't have two-word infinitives, so why did we English suddenly decide that splitting infinitives was a Bad Thing?

I think sometimes that avoiding splitting infinitives sounds clumsy and awkward so I have given myself permission to split them whenever I think it sounds more natural to do so

or even to so do...

Mid A 15 wrote:[

or even to so do...

I'm more likely so to do.

xx

back to the topic at hand, i think what many people seem upset about is that the HM seems to want to turn the school into a examination factory where allowing the students to have social lives is against the "law". I have no porblem with HM wanting to improve peoples grades but it shouldnt be at the expense of allowing us to grow up into people who alongside good acadamic results are also well rounded people able to survive in the real world. Under the HM it seems that the school will just produce people with all A's at A-level but whp have no idea how to really cope in the real world.

Welcome to the world of Hertford, as was.

icomefromalanddownunder wrote:
It is always a joy for me to mark assignments written by literate students - it takes so much less time as I don't have to sit and wonder what the h@ll the writer was trying to communicate, and to hunt for a possible correct fact among a jumble of possible random words.
Off for a lie down.

xxxxxxxx

But, Caroline, just think what you are missing like the following:

"Most teachers could careless about the personal problems of their students"
"Most people think he was a Satin worshipper"
"Geometry teaches us to bisex angels"
"Beethoven expired in 1827 and later died for this"
"Man arrested for possession of heroine" (This was a newspaper headline , not a student stupidity like the rest)

Off for a giggle

sejintenej wrote: But, Caroline, just think what you are missing like the following:

"Most teachers could careless about the personal problems of their students"
"Most people think he was a Satin worshipper"
"Geometry teaches us to bisex angels"
"Beethoven expired in 1827 and later died for this"
"Man arrested for possession of heroine" (This was a newspaper headline , not a student stupidity like the rest)

Off for a giggle

Bring on the satin worshipper, says I

The absolutely wost statement I have come across so far (because it was written by a scientist with a PhD) was in a draft scientific article of which I later refused to be a co-author:

blah, blah, blah chickens and other mammals blah, blah, blah.

And, guess what? When I returned the proof-read draft, he couldn't understand why I had highlighted the phrase (is it a phrase? Forgive me, I'm a Scientist), and couldn't see why it was incorrect.



Aaarrgghhhhhhhhhhhhh.

icomefromalanddownunder wrote:The absolutely wost statement I have come across so far (because it was written by a scientist with a PhD) was in a draft scientific article of which I later refused to be a co-author:

blah, blah, blah chickens and other mammals blah, blah, blah.

And, guess what? When I returned the proof-read draft, he couldn't understand why I had highlighted the phrase (is it a phrase? Forgive me, I'm a Scientist), and couldn't see why it was incorrect.

I regularly have youngsters claiming to pay in £17 in £2 coins (any other odd number also acceptable to them!). They too cannot understand why it is an impossibility. Sometimes I worry how often these people get the change correct for a customer. On the trains we do not have cash tills as we serve drinks and refreshments at your seat.