Far be it from the English to use the subjunctive
A venerable grammatical nuance crossed the Atlantic and came back again
It is often bemoaned in Britain that English is going to pieces—and Americans are generally to blame. Whether you call it decline or not, the moaners are on to something: America has indeed produced many of the innovations that have made their way into global (and British) English, for better or worse.
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Far be it from me”
Culture June 18th 2022
From the June 18th 2022 edition
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