English Language Quotes

“English is capable of defining sentiments that the human nervous system is quite incapable of experiencing.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land

“The British and Americans are two people separated by a common language.”
― George Bernard Shaw

“I wanted to capture what language ability tests could never reveal: her intent, her passion, her imagery, the rhythms of her speech and the nature of her thoughts.”
― Amy Tan, The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life

“The English language is full of words that are just waiting to be misspelled, and the world is full of sticklers, ready to pounce.”
― Mary Norris, Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen

“The history of prescriptions about English ... is in part a history of bogus rules, superstitions, half-baked logic, groaningly unhelpful lists, baffling abstract statements, false classifications, contemptuous insiderism and educational malfeasance. But it is also a history of attempts to make sense of the world and its bazaar of competing ideas and interests.”
― Henry Hitchings

“He spoke in english. Not flawlessly by any means. Not like a Nazi POW camp commandant who appreciates english poetry and says things like 'you know, we are much alike, you and I I'. But good enough”
― Alex Garland, The Beach

“What happened when the Verb asked the noun to conjugate? She said "no-no!", forgot the "o" and decided to become a nun!”
― Ana Claudia Antunes

“A pronoun, too, will aptly reflect the number of its antecedent: 'they' does not refer to one person, no matter how many personalities she or he has, or how eager you are to skirt the gender frays.”
― Karen Elizabeth Gordon, The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: The Ultimate Handbook of Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed