By accident, I found this sentence, which is from JFK's inaugural address. As a non-native speaker, I feel this sentence quite uncomfortable.
I personally would say "Don't ask ….". Is "ask not something" grammatically correct? Is it old fashioned English?
Best Answer
I think as most of the sayings go back to the olden days, old English, other languages, or different dilects, some of them seem to be incorrect grammatically.
The subject saying isn't common in use, it was used especially by some famous politicians, John F. Kennedy being one of them.
I think the OP is right that we should use don't ask instead of "ask not" to make the saying modern in English, but if you change the words of the saying, it'll spoil its beauty.