Huju, the “rule” against splitting infinitives has not “eroded” — there never ever was such a rule in the first place. Some crank in the 19th century invented it out of whole cloth, and gullible fools like your school teachers eagerly adopted it and attempted to brainwash their students with it. But all that time the language carried merrily along without it, ignoring them and their fatuous dictates. If your teachers taught you a “rule” against using possessives for inanimate objects that was just another example of the same ignorance, but less widespread.
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