split infinitive with "not" (1862) (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Mullins, Bill AMRDEC]

Classification:  UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE


>
> Just a quick thought, but sometimes I think split infinitives
> are clearer, and clearer is better.
>
> Ask not what your country can do for you.
> Go not to that bad place.

As I recall my junior high school grammar, these two examples are not
infinitives (don't have the "to" form of the verb) ("Ask" and "Go" are
imperatives (??))

> Try not to do the wrong thing.

And this one is an infinitive, but not split.  "Try to not do the wrong
thing" is split, but has a subtly different meaning, to my ear.

>
> "Try not" seems to indicate "don't try" just as "ask not"
> means "don't ask."  In reality if you say "Try to not do the
> wrong thing" means focusing on active avoidance.
>
>
Classification:  UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org