Jean Aitchison quotes

“Word meanings are like stretchy pullovers, whose outline contour is visible, but whose detailed shape varies with use.”
-- Jean Aitchison

Source : Jean Aitchison (1997). “The Language Web: The Power and Problem of Words - The 1996 BBC Reith Lectures”, p.65, Cambridge University Press

#Writing Quotes #Use Quotes #Shapes Quotes

“Purists behave as if there was a vintage year when language achieved a measure of excellence which we should all strive to maintain. In fact, there was never such a year. The language of Chaucer's or Shakespeare's time was no better and no worse than that of our own - just different.”
-- Jean Aitchison

Source : Jean Aitchison (2013). “Language Change: Progress Or Decay?”, p.14, Cambridge University Press

#Writing Quotes #Years Quotes #Vintage Quotes

“If the English language had been properly organized ... then there would be a word which meant both 'he' and 'she', and I could write, 'If John or Mary comes heesh will want to play tennis', which would save a lot of trouble.”

“Nature, not content with denying him the ability to think, has endowed him with the ability to write.”

“I’m not a fan of ‘write what you know.’ If you don’t know, find out. I knew nothing about the Bible before I started writing ‘The Year of Living Biblically.’ That was kind of the point – to learn.”

“I can write better than anyone who can write faster,”

“The primary requisite for writing well about food is a good appetite. Without this, it is impossible to accumulate, within the allotted span, enough experience of eating to have anything worth setting down.”

“You're my present and my future Sadie, I will use whatever power I have to make you happy.”

“I advise students on the subject of color as follows: If it looks good enough to eat, use it.”

“There are lots of reasons why a woman stays with a man, even when she's given up on changing him and can predict with certainty the shape that the rest of her life with him is going to take.”

Source : A.S.A. Harrison (2013). “The Silent Wife”, p.117, Hachette UK

“The personification of the devil as the symbol of all evil assumes the living shape of the Jew.”

“It's every lawyer's dream to help shape the law, not just react to it.”