Sending a message on a mobile phone is not the most natural of ways to communicate. The keypad isn't linguistically sensible.

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.

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

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.

The sight of her made him understand why he'd lost his faith in God.

One of the common failings among honorable people is a failure to appreciate how thoroughly dishonorable some other people can be, and how dangerous it is to trust them.

Telling a one-sided story doesn't allow for others to have self-love.

America is made up of people who came from someplace else. Even the Native Americans came over the Bering strait... America is what it is because people came from someplace else.

My parents were young and liberal and knew I was going to drink anyway, so they let me do it at home.

Hybridity keeps me from being rigid about most things. It has taught me to appreciate the contradictions in the world and in my life. I scavenge from the best.

Ethical man: A Christian holding four aces.

Once you've created a connection of empathy, rational arguments can play a supportive role.

The imagination is a wonderful thing; it allows for all manner of undiscoverable sins.

I miss home badly sometimes. But then I remember there's nothing left to miss anymore. I feel safer here.