Willard Van Orman Quine Quotes

As a matter of fact, a national language which spreads beyond its own confines very quickly loses much of its original richness of content and is in no better case than a constructed language.

Language itself changes slowly, but the Internet has speeded up the process of those changes so you notice them more quickly.

Letters to the editors of English and American newspapers often contain expressions of horror about the new terms that creep into the language, and these expressions are usually accompanied by dire predictions about ruination of the mother tongue.

I definitely do see language serving its users, and when it no longer serves them we need to look for new words.

If words are to change their meanings, as assuredly they are, let each user of language make such changes as please himself, put up his own suggestions, and let the best win.

Language changes and moves in a different direction evolving all the time. Where a lot of people see deterioration, I see expressive development

I am a part of the old school where I feel that purity of the language should be retained. But English is a constantly evolving language where new words are being added to the dictionary, so I don't see any harm in experimenting with the language. Only poor editing standards need to be improved.

I can remember only a few of the strange and curious words now dead but living and spoken by the English people a thousand years ago.

In general, I agree with Jacob Grimm and feel that we ought to permit changes and uncontrolled growth in language. Even though that also allows potentially threatening new words to develop, language needs the chance to constantly renew itself.

Language changes very fast.

Language is always evolving. It's difficult to read Shakespeare now because language has shifted. Similarly, kids these days can get to the point really quick in about 140 characters or less because of these new tools.

Texting has added a new dimension to language use, but its long-term impact is negligible. It is not a disaster.

All languages had their birth, their apogee and decline.

There is something like an explosion in the meaning of certain words: they have a greater value than their meaning in the dictionary.

Many Arabic/Islamic words have now entered the English dictionary, such as haj, hijab, Eid, etc., and I no longer need to put them in italics or explain them.

Speakers of English love to invent and reinvent the language.

When we look at the specific effect of the Internet on language, languages asking the question, 'Has English become a different language as a result of the Internet?' the answer has to be no.

I would say 'woman' used to be a noun, and now it is a noun and also an adjective. And words change their functions in that way. It's one of the most common phenomena about words. They start as one thing, and they end up as something else.

I don't have any particular desire to see words making a comeback. They are of their era, after all, and that is their identity - they form part of the linguistic color of a period.

People say that text messaging is a new language and that people are filling texts with abbreviations - but when you actually analyse it, you find they're not.

The extraordinary thing about new words is that probably only about one per cent of them are new. Most are old words revived and adapted.

English has always been a mongrel tongue, snapping up words from every continent its speakers encountered.

Natural languages generally are not designed by humans, they're just designed by the participants and you say something new and somebody else says, "Oh, that's a cool way to say it," and the next thing you know, everyone is saying it because it's shiny.

But the adjectives change,” said Jimmy. “Nothing’s worse than last year’s adjectives.

'Refudiate,' 'misunderestimate,' 'wee-wee'd up.' English is a living language. Shakespeare liked to coin new words too. Got to celebrate it!'