English language/Quotes

English isn't a language, it's three languages stacked on top of each other wearing a trenchcoat.

—"des-zimbits", on Tumblr

"I said it in Hebrew -- I said it in Dutch --
I said it in German and Greek:
But I wholly forgot (and it vexes me much)
That English is all that you speak!"

English is a language in which double negatives are a no-no.

—Anonymous

Not only does the English Language borrow words from other languages, it sometimes chases them down dark alleys, hits them over the head, and goes through their pockets. -- Eddy Peters
Not only that, instead of the money, it escapes with the pocket lint. -- Don Roberts

The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and riffle their pockets for new vocabulary.

—James Nicoll

Unlike French -- credited with a mere 100,000 words, each authorized and sanctified by the Academie Francaise gatekeepers -- English gathers new words with the gusto of a bag lady.

—Graeme McRanor, Canadian journalist, 24 Hours Vancouver, February 20, 2006

English is not a killer language, but the greatest language of them all -- because it welcomes new words with all the hospitality of the bouncer in a cheap brothel.

—Ruaridh Nicoll, Scottish novelist, The Observer, February 25, 2007

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