Since the magazine is not written in Latin, it would not be appropriate to apply Latin grammar rules. In English it is permissible to boldly split the occasional infinitive, the main guide being whether or not it sounds awkward.

Have you tried any of the NZ wines? I understand there are some quite good ones these days.

John

Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc is our tipple of choice

I guess it depends what effect the author is trying to achieve – if he is trying to stress the accuracy of his marking I could accept your "to mark accurately" or (under protest ) your split infinitive (eugh!!). By all means play with the poetry of the language to make an effect.

However, on the face of it I would rather he was "to mark a round bar accurately".

Rgds Simon

Edited By Simon Williams 3 on 28/05/2017 23:14:49

Over 'ere it would be "to put a mark where you want it on on a round bar, eh?"

Some of the Chile Reds hit the spot, some say that they go well with Poutine – but I've (honestly) never tried Poutine. (google it, if you dare)

.

… or preferably a d

MichaelG

Warwick Cabernet Sauvignon sounds quite all right to this native speaker.

Edited By Hopper on 29/05/2017 08:51:26

Edited By Hopper on 29/05/2017 08:52:21

Omar Kamm (Byline 'The Pedant' ) has an excellent review in The Times (Saturday May 20th 2017) of Sir Harold Evans's new Style Guide 'Do I Make Myself Clear?'

After highlighting numerous errors of style and fact the review concludes 'Thankfully I'm able, through this column, to let Evan's publishers (Little, Brown) know they haven't got away from it and that, even at this late stage, a sense of shame ought to persuade them to withdraw the book from sale.'

Sir Harold Evans was once editor of The Times and I would have expected him to know what he was talking about. Apparently not. Quite a few style guides don't cut the mustard even if the locals love 'em. For example, 'Strunk and White' doesn't go down well outside the USA.

In his review Mr Kamm may have put his finger on a fundamental problem when it comes to defining good style. He points out that whilst many of the books referenced in Mr Evan's bibliography are written by grammarians, none of them are by a linguist. As English has multiple roots many of it's grammatical rules have dubious foundations. In that situation linguistics can matter much more than grammar.

In writing I try my best to make sense. Reading my own efforts back a week or two later is painful. Quite often I find myself obscure, and being obscure is far more sinful than the odd split infinitive!

Dave

Edit. removed automatic smiley…

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 29/05/2017 10:27:49

Spot on. But in the spirit of the silly season, beware! KISS is an abbreviation of 'Knights In Satan's Service'. Their KISS principles aren't respectable.