Split Infinitive 02 Fowler and Fowler's opinion

I had never really been aware that Split Infinitive was regarded as grammatically incorrect. If the verb is a 'to'-infinitive, adjectives and adjuncts are put after it, and to insert it between the particle and the verb is considered by some English speakers as incorrect.

eg.  Vauxhall are attempting to really break into the market.

I seldom split infinitives, but as a non-native English speaker, I find it sometimes difficult to correctly put the modifiers in the appropriate place to convey the accurate meaning. I guess I am one of the 'guileless casual splitters' who irritate the grammar Nazis.

I have at home the third edition of "The King's English" (1931) written by Fowler and Fowler. It is a book about the English grammar, the dos and don'ts, but the substantial part of the book talks about the don'ts, citing actual phrases from newspapers and presenting how appalling the grammar of the contemporary journalists are.

Well, I found a section 'Split Infinitive'.

This grammar topic was more serious than I had imagined. It seems that the old school authorities in the early 20th century condemned the Split Infinitive. Here's what Fowler and Fowler say about 'Split Infinitives'

The 'split' infinitives has taken such hold upon the conscience of journalists that, instead of warning the novice against the curious superstition that the splitting or not splitting makes the difference between a good and a bad writer. The split infinitive is an ugly thing, as will be seen from our examples below; but it is one among several hundred ugly things, and the novice should not allow it to occupy his mind exclusively.  (The King's English)

Split infinitive is 'ugly'.

Here are the examples that are given in the book.

The time has come to once again voice the general discontent.  (Times)
It should be authorized to immediately put in hand such work.  (Times)
We were not as yet strong enough in numbers to seriously influence the poll.  (Times)

Are they that ugly?
I feel they are acceptable in today's English.

to be continued

Lady Penelope and Parker

Another article about my childhood favourite, Thunderbirds.

In the TV series "Thunderbirds", there is a London agent called Lady Penelope. She is a duchess and lives in a manor located in London. There seems only a butler and a cook who serve her, so I believe the aristocrats in the future England live in quite an economized household.

Parker serves Lady Penelope. He is the butler, the chauffeur, plays almost every role of the servants, and also assists her in the rescue missions. He is quite a character, and as a butler for an aristocrat family, he has an extraordinary background.

Lady Penelope is a duchess so of course, she speaks in the Received Pronunciation, very posh indeed. However, her servant Parker' accent is quite a contrast.

Parker speaks Cockney, the accent which divides the middle class and the working class. His accent has a lot of the characteristics of Cockney -

glottal stops
lady -> la'y   and -> an'    waiting -> wai'in'
bit -> bi'  difficult -> difficul'
Parker -> Par'er, calling -> callin'

vowel shifts
same -> sime   lubricated -> lu'rikited
right -> roite, life -> loife,  away -> awhy, trade -> tride  waiting -> whitin'

dropping h-s
haven't -> 'aven' , hope -> 'ope
home -> 'ome    ahead -> a'ea'

Another features that I like about his accent is that he drops the aitches, and put them in places where it is not needed.

I -> hi   is -> his   alright -> halrigh'  other -> hotha   air conditioner -> hair con'shona
aristocrat -> haristocra'    all -> hall

My idea of a butler is like Mr. Stevens in "Remains of the Day" or Mr. Carson in "Downton Abbey". Mr. Stevens speaks in RP both upstairs and downstairs, and Mr. Carson in near RP upstairs and in Yorkshire downstairs. The butler is the head of the servant household so he must sound respectable. Never Cockney.

I think it is quite unusual for a butler to an aristocrat family speaking Cockney. In Parker's case, he was a professional burglar in his past, had spent some years in jail. After his release from jail, he was caught at the scene of the crime by Lady Penelope who had heard of Parker's status in the underworld, and promised him she would not turn him in if he agreed to work for her in her spy missions. Parker, the butler is one of a kind.

FAB

Another of my childhood favourites was "Thunderbirds". This is a future science-fiction TV series made in the UK performed in supermarionation puppets. A super millionaire American family, Jeff Tracy and his five sons, live on an island. The Tracys form a secret organization, International Rescue, and with their super hi-tech land, sea and space vehicles, Thunderbirds 1,2,3,4 and 5, they come into rescue emergencies anywhere on earth to save human lives.

I loved the puppets, the future settings and the vehicles, and also how they talked. It was a British TV programme, but the Tracys talked with American accent. Their accent had great contrast with the London agent Lady Penelope and her butler Parker, also the characters of the same TV series. Some of the phrases the Tracys used were unfamiliar to me, and I found them amusing.

When the Tracy brothers were in their rescue missions, they were on their vehicles so they had to communicate on radios. At the end of their conversation, they always said, "FAB", which seems to mean the same as 'Roger' or 'heard and understood'. (And 'Roger' is also a phrase I learned off a TV drama show.) I used "FAB" when I was playing with walkie-talkie with my friends and brothers. Cool.

Now, whatever does FAB mean?
There seems to be several explanations to the word, and not a definite answer.

Fully Advised, Briefed
Fully Acknowledged Broadcast
Fabulous

The first two makes acronyms FAB, and on some sites it is said that these acronyms were used by US army radio operators during WWII.
The third 'fabulous' was abbreviated to 'fab', and was quite popular in the 60's in the UK.

Considering that the Tracys were Americans (and the father Jeff was an ex-astronaut), and the brothers use it when they are radio communicating, the acronyms seem plausible for the meaning of FAB.

By the way, Lady Penelope's pink Rolls-Royce is FAB1, her yacht FAB2 and her race horse is FAB3. I prefer to think that these FABs owned by Lady Penelope are abbreviated "FABULOUS"es.

Language and Mind 06 - tattered and torn

When person speaks to you in a foreign language you do not understand, it just sounds jargon, strings of meaningless vocal sounds. You would not notice or mind if the person is saying something abusive or nasty. But funny, once you understand the language, the strings of sounds make sense to you, carry meaning that can move your mind and emotion. The same strings of sounds could be meaningless or meaningful to different persons.

This is a story about me when I was about 10, living in Australia. Three years had passed since my first encounter with English, and I was able to communicate without much problem at school. 

One day when I was at home, the phone rang so I picked it up. I said in a cheerful voice, 'Hello?'. On the other end of the line, there was a voice of a man, a deep coarse voice, breathing heavily, and slowly and dirtily saying,

"I am wearing lady's underwear, all tattered and torn..."

I yelped, hung up the phone! What was that?! 

I was only 10, and I had never had this kind call before. It was revolting, disgusting, I felt abused. All I could do was to cry and tell my parents what had happened. 

After three years of education in a local primary school in Australia, ironically and unfortunately, my English was good enough to understand what the pervert was saying. If my English had not been that good, I would not have understood what had been said and the words would have not disturbed me.

Many years had passed since the call, but I still remember precisely, word for word, what I heard. It isn't a good memory at all, but I now think that I was sort of attracted to the alliteration of 'tattered and torn', that woodnote tone of the 't' sounds.

This pervert phone call became a subject of a talk among the Japanese families and friends circle. Some of the mothers felt sorry for me. One Japanese lady who was not so good in English said to me,

"Maki, so unfortunate that you understood English. If I had picked up the phone, I wouldn't have had the faintest clue what he was saying, and would have said 'Pardon? Pardon?' over and over, and it would have gotten rid of him!"

Sometimes it is better not to understand so much.