Quotes About Language

Capitals are called uppercase letters because typesetters would store them in the "upper case." Small letters were kept in the "lower case.

Roy Peter Clark

That's the writing tool: use passive verbs to call attention to the receiver of the action.

Now, I must give him credit for this," said Wolfe. "If you ever have a preposterous statement to make… say it in five words or less, because we're always used to five-word sentences as being the gospel truth." The

Roy Peter Clark

Roy Peter Clark

Roy Peter Clark

Eats, Shoots & Leaves

Roy Peter Clark

100 Ways to Improve Your Writing

Roy Peter Clark

Modern English Usage

Roy Peter Clark

Obscure words should be defined in texts or made clear from context. But the reading vocabulary of the average citizen is larger than the writing vocabulary of the typical author.

All of us possess a reading vocabulary as big as a lake but draw from a writing vocabulary as small as a pond. The good news is that the acts of searching and gathering always expand the number of usable words.

The bridge between the words glamour and grammar is magic. According to the OED, glamour evolved through an ancient association between learning and enchantment.

A teacher of mine once said there are no true synonyms.

If a period is a stop sign, then what kind of traffic flow is created by other marks? The comma is a speed bump; the semicolon is what a driver education teacher calls a "rolling stop"; the parenthetical expression is a detour; the colon is a flashing yellow light that announces something important up ahead; the dash is a tree branch in the road.

To understand the difference between a good adverb and a bad adverb, consider these two sentences: "She smiled happily" and "She smiled sadly." Which one works best? The first seems weak because "smiled" contains the meaning of "happily." On the other hand, "sadly" changes the meaning.

Whether the vessel is a legal document or a rap song, language is often chosen ot exclude. To use a scholarly phrase, "discourse communities" are often gated,so it's the good writer's job to offer readers a set of keys.

I once learned that only three behaviors set literate people apart. The first two are obvious: reading and writing; but the third surprised me: talking about how reading and writing work.

I may have grown up in the Age of Aquarius, but I'm growing old in the Age of the Acronym.

As you listen to political speech, notice those occasions when politicians and other leaders use the passive voice to avoid responsibility for problems and mistakes.

All of us possess a reading vocabulary as big as a lake but draw from a writing vocabulary as small as a pond.