The Unwritten Rule In The English Language You Never Realised You Were Using

Before we start, do any of you have a lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife? If so that’s a bloody big coincidence.

That sentence was used in a Tweet by BBC journalist Matthew Anderson when describing things that people know, but don’t know that they know.

Things native English speakers know, but don't know we know: pic.twitter.com/Ex0Ui9oBSL

— Matthew Anderson (@MattAndersonBBC) September 3, 2016

The rule comes from Mark Forsyth’s book The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase. So, let’s test it out and move that sentence around a bit.

I have a…

little old lovely rectangular green French silver whittling knife

lovely little green old rectangular French silver whittling knife

lovely little green French old rectangular silver whittling knife

They all sound a little lumpy, but then again “I lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife” doesn’t exactly roll of the tongue.

Not everyone agrees with the rule.

@MattAndersonBBC @Matt_Landau Not exactly, according to the British Council: https://t.co/konbMymVIG pic.twitter.com/j1OUKHyZ2Q

— N. Ó Paloff (@n_paloff) September 3, 2016

@MattAndersonBBC but no. This isn’t how I speak or write. English is very flexible. Rules are post hoc.

— Diana Spencer (@DianaJSpencer) September 3, 2016

I don’t know what is or isn’t a rule, but if we can get it right without even knowing, does it even matter?

H/T: The Independent