I'm very, very not not bothered

The one that common sense lost was when a bunch of Oxbridge knobs decided that common folk from various locales needed a lesson in logic. They declared the exclamation: "I ain't got no bleedin' money" a logical statement.

It wasn't of course - nobody who hears such an outburst would take as a claim to great riches, or even modest means - but it is the battle lost. The double negative is declared bad grammar and that is that.

Curiously, its opposite - the double positive - is simply declared a matter of bad style. Nobody would mistake "I'm very, very happy" as anything other than a little hyperbole. Structurally, syntactically and in terms of meaning it is no different from its Cockney cousin, yet the good working class usage gets condemned.

Of course, neither has much use in business writing, so your exercise for today is to consider the many different way to give emphasis and their strengths and weaknesses.

Infinitive improbability drive

Before last week I had never noticed that The Times has a blanket ban on the split infinitive enshrined in its Style Guide. Since I worked for The Times (albeit not for very long) I'm guessing I should have spotted this. But let's not dwell on that.

Part of me is surprised at the ban and part of me thinks "What do you expect?". HW Fowler published his now eponymous usage guide in 1926, but had already published his sane, common-sense and definitive essay on the split infinitive before, yet still The Thunderer holds a futile line.

Yet mostly I am reassured. The policy may be wrong - flat out, bug-bonkers, wrong - but it is a constant. The Times is owned by an uncultured Aussie who gave up his nationhood in pursuit of wealth and power and has never shown any sense of history.

Somewhere in his empire, at least, a line is being firmly held.

On a vaguely related note, this is rather cool of The Telegraph.