When it becomes a must to split infinitives

(2098^th of a series)

Way back in 2014, US-based Forum reader C. Gordon Hale expressed appreciation for my column against the excessive use of annoying clichés like "at the end of the day," observing that not only in the Philippines was English badly corrupted by vulgar colloquialisms and abysmal grammar. "The state of contemporary English usage in the US [itself] is truly lamentable!" he said.