--- title: "4 Grammar Quotes By Bill Bryson" description: "4 Grammar quotes by Bill Bryson. Plus more from Bill Bryson and more Grammar sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/573/bill-bryson-340_air_english-grammar-is-so-complex-and-confus_875757.jpg" --- > [English grammar is so complex and confusing for the one very simple reason that its rules and terminology are based on Latin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/english-grammar-is-so-complex-and-confusing-for-the-one-very-simple/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/573/bill-bryson-340_air_english-grammar-is-so-complex-and-confus_875757.jpg) > [Making English grammar conform to Latin rules is like asking people to play baseball using the rules of football.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/making-english-grammar-conform-to-latin-rules-is-like-asking-people/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dad/bill-bryson-340_asking_making-english-grammar-conform-to-latin_1161116.png) > [For most of us the rules of English grammar are at best a dimly remembered thing. But even for those who make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/for-most-of-us-the-rules-of-english-grammar-are-at-best-a-dimly/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d91/bill-bryson-340_achieve_for-most-of-us-the-rules-of-english-gram_2038120.png) > [English grammar is so complex and confusing for the one very simple reason that its rules and terminology are based on Latin,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/english-grammar-is-so-complex-and-confusing-for-the-one-very-simple-2/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18e/bill-bryson-340_common_english-grammar-is-so-complex-and-confus_3191679.png) ## Other authors on Grammar - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b018/author-noam-chomsky-71799.jpg) Noam Chomsky 13 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grammar/noam-chomsky/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b022/author-stephen-king-87054.jpg) Stephen King 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grammar/stephen-king/) - [Ralph Waldo Emerson 6 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grammar/ralph-waldo-emerson/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b016/author-margaret-atwood-63354.jpg) Margaret Atwood 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grammar/margaret-atwood/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b018/author-muriel-barbery-69587.jpg) Muriel Barbery 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grammar/muriel-barbery/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b013/author-joan-didion-50171.jpg) Joan Didion 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grammar/joan-didion/) ## More by Bill Bryson > [Most big companies don't like you very much, except hotels, airlines and Microsoft, which don't like you at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/most-big-companies-don-t-like-you-very-much-except-hotels-airlines/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“But Welsh spellings are as nothing compared with Irish Gaelic, a language in which spelling and pronunciation give the impression of having been devised…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/but-welsh-spellings-are-as-nothing-compared-with-irish-gaelic-a/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“Pantaloons were often worn tight as paint and were not a great deal less revealing, particularly as they were worn without underwear. . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/pantaloons-were-often-worn-tight-as-paint-and-were-not-a-great-deal/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [If you go out on the Appalachian Trail, you have to bring so much more equipment - a tent, sleeping bag - but if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/if-you-go-out-on-the-appalachian-trail-you-have-to-bring-so-much-more/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“The dining table was a plain board called by that name. It was hung on the wall when not in use, and was perched…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/the-dining-table-was-a-plain-board-called-by-that-name-it-was-hung-on/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“From almost nothing, France in four years built up an aircraft industry that employed nearly 200,000 people and produced some 70,000 planes. Britain built…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/from-almost-nothing-france-in-four-years-built-up-an-aircraft/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“Every twenty minutes on the Appalachian Trail, Katz and I walked farther than the average American walks in a week. For 93 percent of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/every-twenty-minutes-on-the-appalachian-trail-katz-and-i-walked/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“A diarist named George Templeton Strong recorded in the winter of 1866 that even with two furnaces alight and all the fireplaces blazing, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/a-diarist-named-george-templeton-strong-recorded-in-the-winter-of/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [Tune your television to any channel it doesn't receive and about 1 percent of the dancing static you see is accounted for by this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/tune-your-television-to-any-channel-it-doesn-t-receive-and-about-1/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [As a rule of thumb, I would submit that if you need to call your floss provider, for any reason, you are probably not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/as-a-rule-of-thumb-i-would-submit-that-if-you-need-to-call-your-floss/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [Nobody gets excited about the future at all, ever. The future is something we find depressing and worrisome.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/nobody-gets-excited-about-the-future-at-all-ever-the-future-is/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“What made this particularly interesting is that John Howard is by far the dullest man in Australia. Imagine a very committed funeral home director…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/what-made-this-particularly-interesting-is-that-john-howard-is-by-far/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [I would make a genuinely terrible guide. I can't remember things. I would get half way through telling a story or explaining something and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/i-would-make-a-genuinely-terrible-guide-i-can-t-remember-things-i/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“In the mystifying world that was Victorian parenthood, obedience took precedence over all considerations of affection and happiness, and that odd, painful conviction remained…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/in-the-mystifying-world-that-was-victorian-parenthood-obedience-took/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [If this book has a lesson, it is that we are awfully lucky to be here-and by 'we' I mean every living thing. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/if-this-book-has-a-lesson-it-is-that-we-are-awfully-lucky-to-be-here/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grammar/bill-bryson/#itemlist", "name": "4 Grammar Quotes By Bill Bryson", "numberOfItems": 4, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "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. 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