Famous Quotes and Proverbs
If you are looking for famous quotes and proverbs, you've come to the right place! Browse our largest database, which contains over 150,000 quotations, proverbs and sayings by the most renowned poets, artists, authors, inventors and researchers both living and deceased. Use our famous quotes and proverbs to support the content of your essay, term paper, research paper or dissertation. Be inspired by our quotes, proverbs and sayings now!
Search our collection by author, topic or keyword. It's completely FREE!
Browse Keywords:
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
(Click a letter to view the keywords)
(Click a letter to view the keywords)
Letter "I" » infinitive
«It was an instinct to put the world in order that powered her mending split infinitives and snipping off dangling participles, smoothing away the knots and bumps until the prose before her took on a sheen, like perfect caramel.»
«English grammar is so complex and confusing for the one very simple reason that its rules and terminology are based on Latin -- a language with which it has precious little in common. In Latin, to take one example, it is not possible to split an infinitive. So in English, the early authorities decided, it should not be possible to split an infinitive either. But there is no reason why we shouldn't, any more than we should forsake instant coffee and air travel because they weren't available to the Romans. Making English grammar conform to Latin rules is like asking people to play baseball using the rules of football. It is a patent absurdity. But once this insane notion became established, grammarians found themselves having to draw up ever more complicated and circular arguments to accommodate the inconsistencies.»
Author: Bill Bryson
(Writer)
| Keywords:
absurdity, accommodate, accommodates, air travel, become available, circular, Coffee and, common language, conform, conform to, confusing, draw up, forsake, grammar, inconsistencies, infinitive, infinitives, instant coffee, Latin, patent, patented, Romans, Rules of, simple language, split, Take One, terminology, the Romans
«Would you convey my compliments to the purist who reads your proofs and tell him or her that I write in a sort of broken-down patois which is something like the way a Swiss waiter talks, and that when I split an infinitive, God damn it, I split it so it will stay split, and when I interrupt the velvety smoothness of my more or less literate syntax with a few sudden words of bar-room vernacular, that is done with the eyes wide open and the mind relaxed but attentive.»
Author: Raymond Chandler
(Writer)
| Keywords:
attentive, break open, broken-down, convey, done with, God damn, infinitive, infinitives, literate, more or less, Open and, patois, proofs, purist, purists, smoothness, split, syntax, talk down, the Swiss, velvety, vernacular, wide-open
Research our database of free Biographies. Sign-up for the database of college sample papers for only $14.95/month. Buy a custom written essay, term paper, research paper or dissertation on any topic and get a discount!
