Winston Churchill is reported to have been interrupted once after saying that a particular situation was not acceptable when he said, "That is a problem I won't put up with." The aide interrupting Churchill reminded the prime minister that it wasn't proper to end a sentence with a preposition. Churchill rephrased his statement, saying "OK, then, that is a problem up with which I will not put." Oh, Churchill made the right transposition of words, but there is something so unnatural about that correction. And, in America, the natural way to speak is by ending a sentence with a preposition, regardless of what English teachers who wear ankle-length skirts and tennis shoes say about proper grammar.
I think it is arrogant beyond belief for a very small percentage of the people to decide what is proper when 98% of the speakers of English in America have decided what is going to be practiced. A sham if you ask me. There are other inane rules like the one about the preposition. Try to remember not to split an infinitive the next time you speak, or write for that matter. And don't put a negative meaning word twice in a sentence (the double negative) even though there is this example from Anglo-Saxon English, "nas, nat, nevre, no man" [four negative words - translated to mean something emphatic like "not one, single, solitary person"]. Somewhere the skirt and tennis shoes crowd elitely and haughtily decided to change the rules of our English speaking forefathers. And there are a great many other examples that could be cited.
I understand about conventions, in both language and life. I know why they are needed to a certain extent. I don't have to like it, but I understand. They seem to convolute what is apparently simple sometimes, but I see the big picture.
I think it is arrogant beyond belief for a very small percentage of the people to decide what is proper when 98% of the speakers of English in America have decided what is going to be practiced. A sham if you ask me. There are other inane rules like the one about the preposition. Try to remember not to split an infinitive the next time you speak, or write for that matter. And don't put a negative meaning word twice in a sentence (the double negative) even though there is this example from Anglo-Saxon English, "nas, nat, nevre, no man" [four negative words - translated to mean something emphatic like "not one, single, solitary person"]. Somewhere the skirt and tennis shoes crowd elitely and haughtily decided to change the rules of our English speaking forefathers. And there are a great many other examples that could be cited.
I understand about conventions, in both language and life. I know why they are needed to a certain extent. I don't have to like it, but I understand. They seem to convolute what is apparently simple sometimes, but I see the big picture.
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