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Bound_up comments on Stupid Questions June 2015 - Less Wrong
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If I may the cake dare to take, I'm trying to determine if I've grammatically correctly adjusted the following phrases for the "no prepositions at end of sentences" rule.
The classic: I will not put up with becomes Up with which I will not put
Or with a verb added: I hate to put up with
becomes
Up with which I hate to put
And then my own: To have to
becomes (???)
to which I have(?)
as in: I hate to have to
becomes
I hate to which I have (?)
Which when combined: I hate to have to put up with
becomes
Up with which I hate to which I have put (?)
This last phrase is what I think I have right, but am having trouble determining so for sure.
Prepositions at the end of sentences are actually perfecty valid in English. Only obnoxious teachers insist otherwise.
If you say "This is some stuff I hate to put up with," and someone complains about your sentence ending in a preposition, I think the correct rephrasing is "This is some stuff I hate to put up with, you asshole." But here are some more serious answers:
"Stuff I hate to put up with" does not end with a preposition - "put up with" is functioning as a compound verb here. It's like saying "Popsicles I hate to lick." Anyone who hassles anyone about this should refer to paragraph one.
"I don't want to exercise, but I have to" becomes (if one wants to follow this arbitrary rule, which, to reiterate, one needn't) "I don't want to exercise, but I have to exercise," or alternately, "Though I have to, I don't want to exercise."
It is specifically to demonstrate the absurdity of the rule that I wish to phrase more nearly (and technically correctly) like my last example there, serving to obscure rather than clarify communication.
And you can refer him to the authority of the Language Log post. I should note that involves zombies, X nazis, and "Latin-obsessed 17th century introverts" X-D