2,489 Quotes About Language

abrikostræerne findes, abrikostræerne findes

A related notion is that when you really know a language, you think in it. In fact, the brain doesn't think in any language. What people refer to as "thinking in a language" comes from being able to speak more immediately in a language without rehearsing it or translating it from a language one might know better; the spoken thought feels as if it's closer to its source in the brain.

Tourists and imperialists do not come to be taught. They call things the way they call things at home.

La plupart sont aveugles dans cet univers du langage;sourds aux mots qu'ils emploient. Leurs paroles ne sont qu'expédients; et l'expression pour eux n'est qu'un plus court chemin : ce minimum définit l'usage purement pratique du langage. Être compris, ---comprendre, --- sont les bornes entre lesquelles se resserre de plus en plus ce langage pratique, c'est-à-dire, abstrait.

Why are there more male hyperpolyglots? One answer is that speaking a lot of languages is a geek macho thing (...) It seemed that a woman is less likely to say she "speaks" or "knows" a language if she studied it at some point in the past, while a man, wanting to display his giant repertoire, would include it.

Then I give her a grim shake of my head and say aloud, 'This blows ass.' She nods sympathetically. She doesn't understand, but of course, in her way she understands completely.

In English we blame others for not understanding us when really it's our fault for not saying what we wanted to say.

Because of language, the thoughts we record today might reach into the future to influence the thinking of people not yet born.

Втиснутый в жёсткие рамки незнакомого языка, изменяется сам ход ваших мыслей, говорил он. Некоторые привычные понятия становятся вдруг невыразимыми, другие, прежде неведомые, напротив, пробуждаются к жизни, обретая чудесное воплощение.