Quotes About Language

I feel very, very French, especially when I land in France.

I have introduced my daughter to the literary classics and landmark Bengali films. I want her to be well-versed in English but not at the cost of Bengali.

I'm not PC all the time in my phrasing, because that meets a wall; people won't hear it.

When I was young and didn't know any English, I was drawn by the energy and power of foreign songs and their melodies.

I've always really enjoyed sounds and alliteration and funny words and funny melodies.

Music is so abstract; it is a combination of words and melody.

We have been fortunate enough to travel a lot and we focus heavily on melody and that really is an international language.

It's really hard for me to memorize the medical jargon if I don't know the meaning of every single word. So I do have to do a little Wikipedia/YouTube research to figure out what I'm talking about.

As a writer, I have to admit, there is something darkly compelling about Alzheimer's because it attacks the two things most central to a writer's craft - language and memory, which together make up an individual's identity. Alzheimer's makes a new character out of a familiar person.

I do not speak Hebrew, but I understand that it has no word for 'history.' The closest word for it is memory.

I have a good memory for words, and when I come upon a word I don't know, I remember it, or try to - it's almost like a tic. I also just have a good feeling for how words are made and formed in English and the etymologies that give you prefixes and suffixes.

I just love France, I love French people, I love the French language, I love French food. I love their mentality. I just feel like it's me. I'm very French.

Moving to England, again it's a new language to learn, and I've got to get use to the mentality, the culture, but I think I've integrated myself really well into this team, and I'm happy so far.

I would love to be a coach, mentor, or a batting consultant. I would love to commentate in Hindi, as most people who watch the game are more comfortable with Hindi in India rather than English.

When all those city folks try to fix up my talking, all they do is mess me up.

Languages are something of a mess. They evolve over centuries through an unplanned, democratic process that leaves them teeming with irregularities, quirks, and words like 'knight.'

I don't want to mess with my face. So I'm becoming fluent in French so I can go to France and make French films when I'm 60.

Message matters. Message matters almost as much as actions.

It was complicated in Italy - not just for the language, but also for the way I transmitted my messages and my ideas.

I went to a basic school, which had children from all corners of the world, and met my best friend and had to learn Greek because she didn't speak English.

I went out on a date with Simile. I don't know what I metaphor.

Science is all metaphor.

I think of myself as a writer as much as I think of myself as a linguist and an academic. I really enjoy writing - playing with language and getting just the right metaphor.

Language is memory and metaphor.