Misconceptions about English - mental_floss on YouTube (Ep. 26)

Hi, I'm Elliot and this is Mental Floss on YouTube. Today I'm going to tell you some misconceptions

about the English language and grammar. Keep in mind that a lot of people live by these rules

which is totally cool. The moral of this episode is that even grammar experts disagree on some of

this stuff, so it's just kind of fun to talk about. Misconception number one, never begin a sentence

with a conjunction like but. I'm going to go ahead and quote directly from the Chicago Manual of Style

on this one. There is a widespread belief, one with no historical or grammatical foundation

that it is an error to begin a sentence with a conjunction such as and, but, or so. In fact

a substantial percentage, often as many as 10%, of the sentences in first-rate writing begin with

conjunctions. It has been so for centuries, and even the most conservative grammarians have followed

this practice. Misconception number two. Paragraphs must be a certain number of sentences. You have

heard that in order for a paragraph to be a paragraph, it must have a certain minimum number of sentences, like three or five. But a paragraph really only needs at least one

sentence and one main idea. In fact, a paragraph can just be a single sentence, like the ones

you often see in books and newspapers. According to Martin Cutts in the Oxford Guide to Plain

English if you can say what you want to say in a single sentence that lacks a direct connection with any other sentence just stop there and go on to a new paragraph There no rule against it Go crazy guys Misconception number three there a clear rule for where to put the apostrophe in a possessive singular noun ending in the letter S

So let's say you're trying to write out the boss's report. Do you spell boss B-O-S-S apostrophe S

or B-O-S-S apostrophe? Well, experts disagree on which is correct. If you're writing an associated

press style, you should go with the second one, but other style books recommend the extra S

after the apostrophe. You pretty much get to choose as long as you stay consistent

Misconception number four, don't end a sentence with a preposition. According to Fowler's modern English usage

one of the most persistent myths about prepositions in English is that they properly belong before the word or words they govern

and should not be placed at the end of a clause or sentence. This rule was invented in the 17th century

but modern grammar experts acknowledge that sometimes a sentence is clearest with a preposition at the end of it

For example, you should cheer up and you've been lied to. Like, you haven't been. But that's the sentence

Misconception number five, don't split infinitives. In English, an infinitive is usually the form of a verb starting with to, like to walk or to eat

Some believe that it's wrong to stick a word in between the to and the verb itself, like to quickly eat

This rule became widespread thanks to Henry Alford, a 19th century scholar

who decided that splitting infinitives was entirely unknown to English speakers ignoring the fact that even Shakespeare was known to split an infinitive Nowadays most grammar guides will tell you to avoid doing this when possible but there are times when it okay For example the famous Star Trek line

too boldly go where no man has gone before. Misconception number six, Caesarian sections are named after Julius Caesar

Actually, Caesar wasn't the first person born via C-section, as the story goes

and many experts claim that he wasn't even born that way, because back then, C-sections were only performed if the mother had died during childbirth

and we know his mother lived for years after his birth. Pliny said that it was actually one of Julius' ancestors who was born this way

giving the family its name after the Latin cato, meaning to cut. It's also possible that the Caesars were named for another feature

typically associated with that name, like a thick head of hair or gray eyes

Misconception number seven. You're not good, you are well. You're actually allowed to answer how are you with either I'm good or I'm well

That's because am is what's known as a linking verb, which means it should be followed by an adjective

Both good and well can act as adjectives after a linking verb

Mic drop. Misconception number eight, only use who's to refer to people

Many people will tell you that you should only use who's when you're talking about people, not things

For this one, we don't need to look any further than the Oxford English Dictionary

which claims that who's has been used as the possessive form of both what and who for centuries

So it's totally okay for me to say that this is a show whose host is named Elliot

Misconception number nine literally can never mean figuratively This might be the most controversial one on the list So I going to start with a quote from The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald But there was a change in Gatsby that was simply confounding He literally glowed There also a nice quote from

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. Tom was literally rolling in wealth. Which, knowing

Tom Sawyer, that could have been literally true. My point is that you can't blame teenagers for

misusing the word literally. Authors have been using the word literally to mean figuratively for

a very long time, literally. Nowadays, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary lists two definitions

for the word. One, in a literal sense or manner, and two, in effect. Misconception number 10

decimate means to kill one in ten. A lot of people will scold you for using decimate to mean destroy

They claim that the word's original definition was to kill one in ten, so that's what it means

Well, it turns out when the word emerged in the mid-17th century, it meant both to put to death

or destroy one of every ten, and to tithe. Etymologists don't know which meaning came first

so the original definition argument isn't a good one. Plus, the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition of decimate includes

to reduce drastically, especially in number, alongside the two original meanings. Thank you so much for watching Misconceptions on Mental Floss on YouTube

which is made with the help of all of these nice people. If you have a topic for an upcoming Misconceptions episode that you would like to see

just leave it in the comments, and we'll take a look at them. I'll see you next week. Bye