WIST Quotations

Maggio, Rosalie -- Talking About People: A Guide to Fair and Accurate Language, “Writing Guidelines” (1997)

Dave — Tue, 07 Nov 2023 05:43:55 +0000

Language doesn’t belong to grammarians, linguists, wordsmiths, writers, or editors. It belongs to the people who use it. It goes where people want it to go, and, like a balky mule, you can’t make it go where it doesn’t want to go.

Rosalie Maggio (1944–2021) American writer
Talking About People: A Guide to Fair and Accurate Language, “Writing Guidelines” (1997)
(Source)

Pinker, Steven -- The Sense of Style, Prologue (2014)

Dave — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 13:49:47 +0000

Language is not a protocol legislated by an authority, but rather a wiki that pools the contributions of millions of writers and speakers, who ceaselessly bend the language to their needs and who inexorably age, die, and get replaced by their children, who adapt the language in their turn.

Steven Pinker (b. 1954) Canadian-American cognitive psychologist, linguist, author
The Sense of Style, Prologue (2014)
(Source)

Safire, William -- Language Maven Strikes Again, “Drudgery It Ain’t” (1990)

Dave — Fri, 18 Dec 2015 17:30:56 +0000

The dictionaries should get with it; in pronunciation and ultimately in usage, when enough of us are wrong, we’re right.

William Safire (1929–2009) American author, columnist, journalist, speechwriter
Language Maven Strikes Again, “Drudgery It Ain’t” (1990)
(Source)

Often paraphrased: "The thing about language is that, when enough of us are wrong, we're right."