Not one to confuse deterioration with evolution but there you go.

Viz comic has cartoon strips called Victorian Dad and Raffles the gentleman thug. Both speak in the Victorian turn of phrase. It occurs to me that the awkward constructed words that have since fallen into disuse or trimmed to look pretty may have been seen as deterioration at the time.

Put in the context of a modern satirical cartoon, it makes you think.

Or at least helps pass a few minutes with a cuppa.

Meanwhile, I occasionally make a point of using badly constructed sentences when I know nurse has woken Michael up, just to let him make me look foolish and uncouth.

Whatever gets you through the day I suppose. The other two Muskets have A level English language as they remind me, whereas I left school with fook all in the arts and CSE in important subjects, maths and sciences.