Split Infinitives

Do split infinitives in English seriously annoy anyone here? They do me. For example 'to constantly talk', 'to boldly go' or 'to kindly not smoke' (this last one has two words splitting it). The words are usually adverbs - who hates this?

I don't mind it, and in fact even though I know that it "technically" is incorrect, I do it incessantly

nothing beats it for emphasis ;)

To the contrary, it seems that in many NAE dialects these days split infinitives are the normal way to express many such things, as the "to" tends to get strongly attached to the finite verb that precedes it... And honestly, split infinitives are a far better way to express things than the many nasty circumlocutions that people use to avoid them in an effort to sound "educated".

They don't annoy me at all. I always thought the bias against split infinitives was a relic of the 19th century. The only person I've actually met in person who was against them was my high school English teacher, who I think was probably born in the 19th century, maybe even earlier.

It does irk me a bit in many situations, but other times it is difficult to avoid in everyday speech as it is a feature of most NAE dialects.

There is no such thing as a split infinitive.

I have never heard or read anything like "to taconstantlylk" or "to gboldlyo."

In English, infinitives are made to be split. In fact, sometimes it's best to deliberately, knowingly, and without the least bit of hesitation or guilt, widely split those infinitives.

I suppose I'd have a problem if the "to" were in one sentence, and the verb was in a different sentence, though.

Star Trek:

To boldly go where no one has gone before.

<<To boldly go where no one has gone before. >>

This makes me wonder: are split infinitives really "split"

One can look at the above "to boldly go" and see a different verb--the verb to 'boldly-go', as opposed to 'go' boldly

I know that technically it is a verb and an adverb, but 'going' and 'boldly-going' are not the same concept. hmmm

something to consider

<<One can look at the above "to boldly go" and see a different verb--the verb to 'boldly-go', as opposed to 'go' boldly
>>

I guess what I'm tryng to say is this: whenever we split an infinitive, are we really making a new infinitive (i.e. a new verb) from the intermediate parts when we do so?

somethimes I think no, but sometimes I can see yes

The only people who care about split infinitives are stuffy, up-tight editors and people who speak like they were beaten with a rod as a kid. If you want to sound like you speak English normally, split those infinitives whenever you want.

In writing it looks better not to split them, though the only people who will appreciate your effort are former copyeditors. Good crowd.

Is something like this a split infinitive?

We've gotta really go all out from the getgo, if we're gonna make the playoffs this year.

>>Is something like this a split infinitive?

We've gotta really go all out from the getgo, if we're gonna make the playoffs this year.<<

Yes, and this is also why "split infinitives" are the norm in at least modern NAE dialects. The thing is that the "to" has become so irreversably attached to many quasimodal verbs in modern NAE dialects that one cannot help but put adverbs between the "to" and the actual infinitive of the main verb without sounding very, very unnatural in trying to avoid such.

<<The only people who care about split infinitives are stuffy, up-tight editors and people who speak like they were beaten with a rod as a kid.>>

I like to savagely beat my girlfriend with a rod when we're role playing and I *still* can't get her to avoid those split infinitives.

Actually, I would have to say that the following is firmly ungrammatical at least here:

*"We've got really to go all out from the getgo, if we're gonna make the playoffs this year."

and the following is practically ungrammatical due to being so extremely unnatural thanks to strong restrictions upon the placement of "really":

*"We've gotta go all out from the getgo really, if we're gonna make the playoffs this year."

and while the following is strictly speaking grammatical, it is actually different in meaning as "really" is modifying "all out" rather than "go":

"We've gotta go really all out from the getgo, if we're gonna make the playoffs this year."

The original sentence is actually the only one that would have the particular intended meaning and actually still be grammatical in the dialect here...