A feature of English that makes it different compared with all other languages is its global spread.

Language changes and moves in a different direction evolving all the time. Where a lot of people see deterioration, I see expressive development

Language has no independent existence apart from the people who use it. It is not an end in itself; it is a means to an end of understanding who you are and what society is like.

Language itself changes slowly but the internet has speeded up the process of those changes so you notice them more quickly.

Research shows that those kids who text frequently are more likely to be the most literate and the best spellers, because you have to know how to manipulate language.

At any one time language is a kaleidoscope of styles, genres and dialects.

Grammar is what gives sense to language .... sentences make words yield up their meaning. Sentences actively create sense in language. And the business of the study of sentences is grammar.

Although many texters enjoy breaking linguistic rules, they also know they need to be understood.

In effect we are, bending and breaking the rules of the language. And if someone were to ask why we do it, the answer is simply: for fun

Spellings are made by people. Dictionaries - eventually - reflect popular choices.

Anyone interested in language ends up writing about the sociological issues around it.

Of all the liars in the world, sometimes the worst are our own fears.

C.S. Lewis said that conscience is nothing more than the voice of God within our souls

Be careful what you wish for

I wonder where we go when we die?” “…Pittsburgh?” “You mean if we’re good or if we’re bad?

I was a window dresser for Burton's once. What really put me off was the area manager coming round and saying, Charles, I think you're a natch at this.

In an art school it's very hard to tell who is the best.

Who you are depends on the sum total of your neurobiology.

Ancient stars in their death throes spat out atoms like iron which this universe had never known. ... Now the iron of old nova coughings vivifies the redness of our blood.

I think that the loss of confidence in yourself to make good music is what being jaded is.

The liberty of the press is dear to England; the licentiousness of the press is odious to England: the liberty of it can never be so well protected as by beating down the licentiousness.