I might try turning off my predictive text, but the keyboard on my phone is so tiny and rubbish it might instil even more fury trying to get it right. I think that's why phones rely on predictive text - because the keyboards are too small to use properly (or fingers are to big).
Trying to work online via a phone is just a really bad idea generally. I can guarantee that pretty much all the bad spelling and genuine but incomprehensible posts on this forum have been written on phones. (Except mine).
Personally I am not too bothered about split infinitives though I do tend to follow grammatical ‘rules’ quite diligently. I think the issue with split infinitives is that it is a simple rule, drummed into us in school days, and we have unquestioningly accepted it since. However the objection to split infintives mostly derives from Victorian grammarian purists who believed that as there were no split infinitives in Latin, nor should there be any in English.
Modern prose style manuals are far less proscriptive. My view is that a split infinitive is fine if it makes the sentence flow better or if, by splitting, the meaning changes. Consider the difference between You really have to weed that flower bed, and You have to really weed that flower bed.
The former says get on with it, the latter says do it thoroughly.
On the wider issue of poor spelling and grammar, does it matter if the meaning is understood? Probably not. But what impression are you giving? It doesn’t matter if you slurp your soup, talk with your mouth full or pick your nose in public. If you want to create a favourable impression you don’t do these things. Similarly, in my view, if you want to create the right impression with people whose judgement of you can impact on your life, write and speak correctly, something much easier said than done if you’re dyslexic. If you’re not you can improve if you set your mind to it. When writing or speaking informally to friends and family then grammatical rules can be abandoned.
It occurred to me that it would be really interesting to map the twists and turns of this thread. Shame about Cambridge Analytica. They might have been able to help us.
Posts
Modern prose style manuals are far less proscriptive. My view is that a split infinitive is fine if it makes the sentence flow better or if, by splitting, the meaning changes. Consider the difference between
You really have to weed that flower bed, and
You have to really weed that flower bed.
The former says get on with it, the latter says do it thoroughly.
On the wider issue of poor spelling and grammar, does it matter if the meaning is understood? Probably not. But what impression are you giving? It doesn’t matter if you slurp your soup, talk with your mouth full or pick your nose in public. If you want to create a favourable impression you don’t do these things. Similarly, in my view, if you want to create the right impression with people whose judgement of you can impact on your life, write and speak correctly, something much easier said than done if you’re dyslexic. If you’re not you can improve if you set your mind to it. When writing or speaking informally to friends and family then grammatical rules can be abandoned.