Quotes About Language

La ambigüedad, lejos de ser una carga, representa la clave de un lenguaje óptimo flexible. Y esta propiedad es seguramente universal.

A poet without memory, said Marconi, is like a criminal and nearly undone by feelings of decency. A poet without memory is an oxymoron. Because the poet is the memory of the language.

Pero cómo se le va a ocurrir separar el sujeto del verbo con una coma, hombre!

Reading surrounds us, labels us, defines us.

as the descendants of the Normans finally amalgamated with the English natives, the Anglo-Saxon language reasserted itself; but in its poverty it had to borrow hundreds of French words (literary, intellectual, and cultural) before it could become the language of literature.

this development produced what is called Middle English, known especially from Chaucer

The usual -am ending signals the dir. obj., as does the word order, which is standard for Latin: SOV, subj.-obj.-verb (vs. English, which is an SVO language); final -m was often muted in speech, and sometimes therefore dropped in writing.

ds mnibus: for this phrase, commonly abbreviated D. M., see "Epitaph of a Young Boy," in Capvt VII.—fcit: sc. id, i.e., the monument.

In edem es nv. (Cicero Fam.

A reader who senses the echo of the exodus/conquest18 language in Mark 1:2 will find the intuition immediately reinforced by what follows.

A writer who renders the brutal actions of men in excruciating detail, seldom applying the anesthetic of psychology, [Cormac] McCarthy would much rather orate than confide.

This means that "meeting the current toward elimination of names is the counter current of late development, which . . . gave to simplified matter the verisimilitude of proper names.

Puede que una palabra correcta sea eficaz, pero ninguna palabra es tan eficaz como una pausa en el momento adecuado".

God, to me, it seems, is a verb, not a noun, proper or improper.

Grammar is the logic of speech, even as logic is the grammar of reason.

Eloquence is vehement simplicity.

Raymond's mother's subtraction of 79 cases from 286 cases left 207 cases, the number with which she had had Johnny kick off. She had made one other small change. The Secretary's actual language had been "recommendation against permanent employment," which she had changed to read: "members of the Communist party," which Johnny had adjusted to read: "card-carrying Communists.

Of these, 79 had actually been removed from the service." Raymond's mother's subtraction of 79 cases from 286 cases left 207 cases, the number with which she had had Johnny kick off. She had made one other small change. The Secretary's actual language had been "recommendation against permanent employment," which she had changed to read: "members of the Communist party," which Johnny had adjusted to read: "card-carrying Communists.

Cause if you shoot a bullet someone dies. If you drop a bomb many die. You hit a woman, love dies. But if you say the F-word... nothing actually happens.

Whatever the culture, there's a tongue in our head. Some use it, some hold it, some bite it. For the French it is a rapier, thrusting in attack; the English, using it defensively, mumble a vague, confusing reply; for Italians and Spaniards it is an instrument of eloquence; Finns and East Asians throw you with constructive silence. Silence is a form of speech, so don't interrupt it!

In one recorded case, the English speaker said "I assume," the French interpreter translated it as "I deduce," and this was rendered by the Russian as "I consider"—by which time the idea of assumption had been lost!

is a good deal of scientific support for the hypothesis that higher levels of thinking depend on language.

What is said may be grammatically accurate or erroneous in the extreme, but it will be colored by the person's view of reality, which is itself influenced by the rigidity of his or her own language structure.

Americans using expressions like "You are killing me" or "Say that once again and I'll walk away from this deal" will cause great consternation among their Japanese partners.