In 1762, Bishop Robert Lowth did a grave disservice to the English language when he published his Short Introduction to English Grammar. Rather than basing his grammatical rules in the usage of the best educated speakers and writers of English, he arbitrarily chose to base them on the Latin grammatical system. The result is that many modern usages in English, particularly an alarming number of rules of normative usage and Standard Written English, are based upon those false origins.

1762年，主教罗伯特•罗斯在他的《英语语法简介》一书中犯了一个极大的错误。他根据的不是那些受过最好的高等教育英语人士和作家所使用的语法规则，而是武断地选择了拉丁语系为基础。结果导致了英语里大量的现代用法，尤其是数目惊人的规范用法和标准书面英语，均来自于这些当初的错误。

These very rules continue to plague us to this day as they are still used as the foundation of many modern school English curriculums. And so, with this list, I hope to finally put an end to many of these foolish rules. [Did you see what I did?]

至今，这些语法规则依然困扰着我们，因为许多现代中学英语课程依然以这些规则作为教学基础。因此，我希望能通过下面的这些例子最终废除这些愚蠢的规则。

10

Between is for two only

The “tween” portion of “between” is a reference to the number 2, but the Oxford English Dictionary says this: “In all senses, between has, from its earliest appearance, been extended to more than two.” Many pedants try to enforce the use of “among” when speaking of groups larger than two. Even the pickiest speaker does not naturally say, “A treaty has been negotiated among England, France, and Germany.”

10 Between仅用于两者之间

"between"中的 "tween"表示数字2，但牛津英语词典解释说： “根据其最早的出现，无论从哪一点来说，between已延伸到表示两个以上” 。许多书呆子依然强调当大于2个以上的群体时，使用“among”。即使是最挑刺的人也不会本能地说： “英、法、德(among)之间已就条约进行了商议” 。

9

Till versus ’til

Because ’til looks like an abbreviation for “until”, some people believe that this word should always be spelt ’til (some don’t object to leaving off the apostrophe). However, “till” has been in regular use in English for over 800 years, longer than ’til. It is completely correct English to say “till”.

9 Till与’til

因为’til像是"until"的缩写，因此，有些人认为"until"这个字应始终拼写为：’til(有些人赞成省略撇号)。不过，"till"在英语中已经使用了800多年了，而且远远长于’til。英语中使用"till"是完全正确的。

8

Persuade versus convince

Some people have the strange belief that you must “persuade” someone to “convince” them, but you cannot “convince” a person. In fact, persuade is a synonym (means the same thing) for convince - and this usage goes back to the 16th century. It can mean both to attempt to convince, and to succeed in convincing. It is not common anymore to say things like “I am persuaded that you are an idiot” - though this is also correct English.