Quotes about language

“In real life, my sweet poet,” the duke said as the swordsmen circled, “words can never be undone.”

Big professorial words are good to know but not necessarily use at every turn. Try not to serve vichyssois to a coal miner, and do not give Cheerios to the queen of England. Neither will be amused.

In country places a single word is inflected to mean a hundred things, so that only a recording of the sounds gives an idea of the speech of these people.

Words are like little gods. The pronoun "him" instead of "her," if used often enough, can disuade a girl from science or math. The words you use determine the density of gray matter in your brain. They affect your political leanings, influence how you see reality, determine your level of confidence and thus, define what it means to be you. That's what words do.

As important as your words are in shaping your behavior, they are even more important in the way they shape the behavior of others. Your manner of speaking is, if nothing else, the central factor upon which people form assumptions about you. Whatever is your ultimate goal in life, chances are good you're going to have to talk your way to it. And if greatness is your goal, well-spoken words are essential. Think about it. From Homer to Hemingway, Lincoln, Churchill, King, and both Obamas - their words are why we know them.

[J]argons that facilitate communication within the profession makes its communication with outsiders more difficult. ...[A]ll technical professions have an incentive to make themselves look more complicated... so they can justify the high fees... for their services.

We are a people captivated by the power and romance of metaphor, forever seeking the invisible through the image of the visible.

"Liquidity" was one of those words Wall Street people threw around when they wanted the conversation to end, and for brains to go dead, and for all questioning to cease.

To speak a language is to take on a world, a culture.

Their minds were sudden merchants: metaphor, like money, equalised the incommensurable.

Mr Premier, Sir. Neither you nor I speak English, but there are some things that can be said only in English.

The point in all this is that language is a handy whipping boy to summon and belabor when we have failed in some serious way. In other words, we play politics with language, and in so doing conceal the reality and the complexity of our situation from ourselves and from those foolish enough to put their trust in us.