The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #29116   Message #368072
Posted By: mousethief
03-Jan-01 - 06:56 PM
Thread Name: Grammar in Songs
Subject: RE: Grammar in Songs
Never ending a sentence with a proposition and never splitting an infinitive are picky little rules that were imported into English from Latin, where they actually have some bearing.

In English they're stupid and pointless.

Whom is dying out, which is a shame because it's elegant, but the instances where it's really ambiguous if you use "who" for "whom" are few, and thus it's pretty much unnecessary, and unnecessary words tend to die off. Such is life.

Long and short of it, language is a growing, evolving thing, and hanging on too long to outmoded "rules" or words, while it may make you feel better about yourself, won't stop the evolving.

It ain't no use in turning on your light, babe
That light I ain't seen yet
It ain't no use in turning on your light, babe
I'm speeding by in my Corvette...

Alex