Re: English Lesson: Monty Python

gadfyl@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 schrieb:
> askaboutenglish@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 wrote:
> 
>>> For example, you claim, "The letter 'l' is quite often silent."
>>> But in some of the examples you give, the 'l' is weakened to a 'w' 
>>> (psalm --> sawm, not sam).
>>
>>
>> Ok but it is still silent, yes?
> 
> 
> What have we here but another example of your punctuation and spelling?
> 
> In vacuum is the second 'u' silent?  Or is the first 'u' silent?
> 
> 
>> Anyway please feel free to send me the link to your website about
>> English, for me to lovingly pick through.
> 
> 
> What have we here but another example of your ability to split an 
> infinitive and inability to punctuate correctly?

There is nothing innately ungrammatical about split infinitives in 
English. They can be found in numerous writers from the time of Chaucer 
onwards. they only started to be frowned on when some bright sparks who 
thought that English grammar should be like Latin grammar (a radically 
different language) came up with the idea that because you couldn't 
split an infinitive in latin (not surprising since latin infinitives are 
always one word) this should also be the case in English.

In my opinion, complaints about split infinitives are the province of 
pedants.

This comment should not be interpreted as an endorsement or otherwise of 
the site mentioned by the original poster. I haven't visited the site 
and so can't comment. However, the sketch is available all over the Net. 
The script available, for example, at 
<http://www.davidpbrown.co.uk/jokes/monty-python-parrot.html>
and you 
can view the original ikn video form at 
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H6DSoqZz_s>.

Since a lot of the dialogue is in non-standard English I would only 
recommend it to students with a very high level of English comprehension.

Regards, Einde O'Callaghan