Today is Saint Jude's Day, commemorating the saint called upon by those who attempt the impossible. In his honor we attempt what may be impossible: we try to convince folks that it is okay to occasionally split the infinitive. Sounds like heresy? Listen up.

For starters, the term split infinitive is a bit of a misnomer, since the to is only an appendage of the infinitive, which is the uninflected form of a verb. A split infinitive is a construction in which an adverbial modifier comes between the to and the verb -- to really care, for example.

The split infinitive wasn't named and condemned until the nineteenth century, but it has been around since at least the fourteenth century. The cause for complaint may have been the growing popularity of the usage, perhaps combined with the fact that the infinitive is never split in Latin or Greek. Indeed, in those languages it's impossible to split the infinitive, since an infinitive is a single word identified by its ending.

Although there has never been a rational basis for objecting to split infinitives, the stricture against them has become very firmly entrenched in the minds of many.

Modern usage writers don't like the construction, but are willing to compromise. They recognize there's nothing grammatically wrong with it, but advise us not to split infinitives unless doing so improves clarity. So now you can split your infinitives with a clear conscience.