Grammar Lesson #11: False Rules

This is about grammar rules that were arbitrarily invented in the 1800s and really should be ignored because, linguistically, they're wrong. If enough of us use these forms, we can overthrow the grammatical tyrants of many years ago.

Myth #1: Don't end a sentence with a preposition.
No, do it. We do it all the time anyway. That's where these common phrases fit:
Where are you from?
Who did you go with?
They're all around.
He's too big to argue with.
That's the one everyone's heard of.
It's something we can all learn from.
That's what they're there for.
The rule appeared when some snobs in the late 1600s thought that Latin was a better language than English and tried to impose Latin rules on English. In Latin, you can't end a sentence with a preposition, even if you try. The language isn't structured for it. But English is, so let's keep doing it, darn it.

Myth #2: Ain't
This is an interesting word and has been condemned over and over again. It gets used in place of am not, isn't, and aren't. But looking at the language itself, we don't have a proper contraction for am not. The language seems to have evolved to give us ain't to fill in this gap. I say we should use it more, especially for am not, but don't try writing it in your English papers just yet.

Myth #3: Double negatives
Linguistic logic is not the same as math logic. Two negatives in language -- at least English -- emphasize the negative meaning. In Latin two negatives cancel each other out, so this is another example of 19th-century snobs trying to turn English into Latin. Double negatives were very common in English before then since our negative statements can appear weak otherwise. It does have a place in our language, but you probably should still avoid it during a job interview.