Bill Bryson Quotes About Language

• English is full of booby traps for the unwary foreigner. Any language where the unassuming word fly signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled.

  Bill Bryson

  Mean, Gentleman, Asking

  Bill Bryson (1990). “The Mother Tongue”, William Morrow Paperbacks

• La gramática inglesa es tan compleja y confusa por la sencilla razón de que sus reglas y su terminología se basan en el latín, una lengua con la que tiene muy poco en común.

  Bill Bryson

  Latín, Simple, Gramática inglesa

• Language is more fashion than science, and matters of usage, spelling and pronunciation tend to wander around like hemlines.

  Bill Bryson

  Fashion, Writing, Matter

  Bill Bryson (1990). “The Mother Tongue”, William Morrow Paperbacks

• Making English grammar conform to Latin rules is like asking people to play baseball using the rules of football.

  Bill Bryson

  Baseball, Football, Latin

• English grammar is so complex and confusing for the one very simple reason that its rules and terminology are based on Latin - a language with which it has precious little in common. In Latin, to take one example, it is not possible to split an infinitive. So in English, the early authorities decided, it should not be possible to split an infinitive either. But there is no reason why we shouldn't, any more than we should forsake instant coffee and air travel because they weren't available to the Romans.

  Bill Bryson

  Latin, Coffee, Writing

• Those who sniff decay in every shift of sense or alteration of usage do the language no service. Too often for such people the notion of good English has less to do with expressing ideas clearly than with making words conform to some arbitrary pattern.

  Bill Bryson

  Escritura, Ideas, Personas

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