The English language is rather like a monster accordion, stretchable at the whim of the editor, compressible ad lib. — Robert Burchfield Copy Share Image
I believe it is imperative to see modern English grammar as a rich and diverse linguistic system deposited on our [England's] shores 1,500 years… — Robert Burchfield Copy Share
I am sure that the two main forms of English, American English and British English, separated geographically from the beginning and severed politically since… — Robert Burchfield Copy Share
Vulgarity finds its antidote; old crudities become softened with time. Distinctions, both those that are useful and those that are burdensome, flourish and die,… — Robert Burchfield Copy Share
In 1776, at the point of severance, except for an infusion of words from east coast Indian languages, the English language of North America… — Robert Burchfield Copy Share
At all periods of the [English] language it is difficult to assign a beginning date to most new words and meanings. They tend to… — Robert Burchfield Copy Share
The language of Doctor Johnson and Mrs Hester Lynch Thrale, and that of their adult contemporaries, was the stately language of the time, polished,… — Robert Burchfield Copy Share
Computer users soon learn that the miraculous powers of personal computers are based on avoidance of error. — Robert Burchfield Copy Share
The English language is rather like a monster accordion, stretchable at the whim of the editor, compressible ad lib. — Robert Burchfield Copy Share
To finish is both a relief and a release from an extraordinarily pleasant prison. — Robert Burchfield Copy Share
Lexicography is a chastening as well as an illuminating and fascinating art. — Robert Burchfield Copy Share
