---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The main effect of the Internet on…"
description: "\"The main effect of the Internet on language has been to increase the expressive richness of language, providing the language with a new set of communic..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/302/david-crystal-8647_increase_the-main-effect-of-the-internet-on-langu_1039237.png"
---

#  The main effect of the Internet on language has been to…

![“The main effect of the Internet on language has been to increase the expressive richness of language, providing the language with a new set of communicative dimensions that haven't existed in the past.” quote by David Crystal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/302/david-crystal-8647_increase_the-main-effect-of-the-internet-on-langu_1039237.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/302/david-crystal-8647_increase_the-main-effect-of-the-internet-on-langu_1039237.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/302/david-crystal-8647_increase_the-main-effect-of-the-internet-on-langu_1039237.png)

> “The main effect of the Internet on language has been to increase the expressive richness of language, providing the language with a new set of communicative dimensions that haven't existed in the past.”

[David Crystal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-crystal/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The Internet has expanded language by adding new expressive tools and dimensions not previously available.

**In simple terms:** Internet adds new ways to express ideas.

Key Takeaway

Leverage new digital expressions for richer communication.

Themes

technology language evolution communication

Mood

analytical curious

Type

academic observational

When to use this quote

- online writing
- social media
- marketing
- education

Key Concepts

linguistics digital media expressive richness

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you decide which digital expression fits your message?
- What risks arise from overly expressive language online?

A Different Perspective

New tools can cause misunderstandings if not used wisely.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Internet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/internet/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/)

## Related quotes

> [When we look at the specific effect of the Internet on language, languages asking the question, 'Has English become a different language as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crystal/when-we-look-at-the-specific-effect-of-the-internet-on-language/)

[David Crystal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-crystal/)

> [The one thing about internet language, people join it, and what quickly evolves is an 'internet dialect,' as it were.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crystal/the-one-thing-about-internet-language-people-join-it-and-what-quickly/)

[David Crystal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-crystal/)

> [A lot of the websites built through the 1990s used Perl. The first webmaster of Sun Microsystems coined a wonderful phrase. He said Perl…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-o-reilly/a-lot-of-the-websites-built-through-the-1990s-used-perl-the-first/)

[Tim O'Reilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-o-reilly/)

> [Only one thing has always helped to increase my strength increased further: I'm not alone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/only-one-thing-has-always-helped-to-increase-my-strength-increased/)

Mak\_786

> [The American people reject the idea of giving Washington a blank check to increase the debt limit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-roby/the-american-people-reject-the-idea-of-giving-washington-a-blank/)

[Martha Roby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-roby/)

> [ The only way you can do that \[decrease taxes, balance the budget, and increase military spending\] is with mirrors… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-b-anderson/the-only-way-you-can-do-that-decrease-taxes-balance-the-budget-and/)

John B. Anderson

> [Each year more than 100,000 high school graduates, with proved ability, do not enter college because they cannot afford it. And if we cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/each-year-more-than-100-000-high-school-graduates-with-proved-ability/)

[Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/)

> [Bring the viewer to your side, include him in your thought. He is not a bystander. You have the power to increase his perceptions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothea-lange/bring-the-viewer-to-your-side-include-him-in-your-thought-he-is-not-a/)

[Dorothea Lange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothea-lange/)

> [When one fib becomes due as it were, you must forge another to take up the old acceptance; and so the stock of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/when-one-fib-becomes-due-as-it-were-you-must-forge-another-to-take-up/)

[William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/)

> [You could get in rehearsals, pre-production, anything that would actually contribute to the understanding of how a film gets made. I actually find those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-roach/you-could-get-in-rehearsals-pre-production-anything-that-would/)

[Jay Roach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-roach/)

> [The risk of developing carcinoma of the lung increases steadily as the amount smoked increases. If the risk among non-smokers is taken as unity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-doll/the-risk-of-developing-carcinoma-of-the-lung-increases-steadily-as/)

Richard Doll

> [Vegetables, which are the lowest in the scale of living things, are fed by roots, which, implanted in the native soil, select by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/vegetables-which-are-the-lowest-in-the-scale-of-living-things-are-fed/)

[Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/)

> [One reason for the tremendous increase in health-care costs in the U.S. is managerial neglect of the "hotel services" by the people who dominate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-drucker/one-reason-for-the-tremendous-increase-in-health-care-costs-in-the-u/)

[Peter Drucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-drucker/)

> [Act always so as to increase the number of choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-von-foerster/act-always-so-as-to-increase-the-number-of-choices/)

[Heinz von Foerster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-von-foerster/)

> [A thing of beauty is a joy for ever;It's loveliness increase;it will never pass into nothingness;but still will keep a bower quiet for us,and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/a-thing-of-beauty-is-a-joy-for-ever-it-s-loveliness-increase-it-will/)

[John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/)

## More by David Crystal

> [I don't have any particular desire to see words making a comeback. They are of their era, after all, and that is their identity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crystal/i-don-t-have-any-particular-desire-to-see-words-making-a-comeback/)

[David Crystal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-crystal/)

> [In effect we are, bending and breaking the rules of the language. And if someone were to ask why we do it, the answer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crystal/in-effect-we-are-bending-and-breaking-the-rules-of-the-language-and/)

[David Crystal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-crystal/)

> [There's an old little jingle: 'The chief use of slang is to show that you're one of the gang.' What that means is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crystal/there-s-an-old-little-jingle-the-chief-use-of-slang-is-to-show-that/)

[David Crystal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-crystal/)

> [The death of a language. The word has the same kind of reluctant resonance as it has when we talk about the death of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crystal/the-death-of-a-language-the-word-has-the-same-kind-of-reluctant/)

[David Crystal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-crystal/)

> [One of the places the full stop is really being revised in a really fundamental way is on the Internet. You look at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crystal/one-of-the-places-the-full-stop-is-really-being-revised-in-a-really/)

[David Crystal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-crystal/)

> [Language itself changes slowly but the internet has speeded up the process of those changes so you notice them more quickly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crystal/language-itself-changes-slowly-but-the-internet-has-speeded-up-the/)

[David Crystal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-crystal/)

> [We are rearing a generation of kids who are more equitable and more understanding about the existence of language variety and why it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crystal/we-are-rearing-a-generation-of-kids-who-are-more-equitable-and-more/)

[David Crystal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-crystal/)

> [Sending a message on a mobile phone is not the most natural of ways to communicate. The keypad isn't linguistically sensible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crystal/sending-a-message-on-a-mobile-phone-is-not-the-most-natural-of-ways/)

[David Crystal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-crystal/)

> [It took three years to put Shakespeare's words together, there were a lot of words to be studied and a lot of words to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crystal/it-took-three-years-to-put-shakespeare-s-words-together-there-were-a/)

[David Crystal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-crystal/)

> [Likewise, there is no evidence that texting teaches people to spell badly: rather, research shows that those kids who text frequently are more likely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crystal/likewise-there-is-no-evidence-that-texting-teaches-people-to-spell/)

[David Crystal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-crystal/)

> [“Here are three elements we often see in town names: If a town ends in “-by”, it was originally a farmstead or a small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crystal/here-are-three-elements-we-often-see-in-town-names-if-a-town-ends-in/)

[David Crystal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-crystal/)

> [There's nothing unusual about a single language dying. But what's going on today is extraordinary when we compare the situation to what has happened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crystal/there-s-nothing-unusual-about-a-single-language-dying-but-what-s/)

[David Crystal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-crystal/)

> [Enshrined in a language is the whole of a community's history and a large part of its cultural identity. The world is a mosaic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crystal/enshrined-in-a-language-is-the-whole-of-a-community-s-history-and-a/)

[David Crystal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-crystal/)

> [You don't usually get a compound word where the first part is a slang thing and the second part is a rather ordinary or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crystal/you-don-t-usually-get-a-compound-word-where-the-first-part-is-a-slang/)

[David Crystal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-crystal/)

> [Swearing makes an excellent relief mechanism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crystal/swearing-makes-an-excellent-relief-mechanism/)

[David Crystal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-crystal/)

[Explore all 79 David Crystal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-crystal/)

## More Increase quotes

> [A thing of beauty is a joy for ever;It's loveliness increase;it will never pass into nothingness;but still will keep a bower quiet for us,and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/a-thing-of-beauty-is-a-joy-for-ever-it-s-loveliness-increase-it-will/)

[John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/)

> [Act always so as to increase the number of choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-von-foerster/act-always-so-as-to-increase-the-number-of-choices/)

[Heinz von Foerster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-von-foerster/)

> [One reason for the tremendous increase in health-care costs in the U.S. is managerial neglect of the "hotel services" by the people who dominate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-drucker/one-reason-for-the-tremendous-increase-in-health-care-costs-in-the-u/)

[Peter Drucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-drucker/)

> [Vegetables, which are the lowest in the scale of living things, are fed by roots, which, implanted in the native soil, select by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/vegetables-which-are-the-lowest-in-the-scale-of-living-things-are-fed/)

[Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/)

> [The risk of developing carcinoma of the lung increases steadily as the amount smoked increases. If the risk among non-smokers is taken as unity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-doll/the-risk-of-developing-carcinoma-of-the-lung-increases-steadily-as/)

Richard Doll

> [You could get in rehearsals, pre-production, anything that would actually contribute to the understanding of how a film gets made. I actually find those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-roach/you-could-get-in-rehearsals-pre-production-anything-that-would/)

[Jay Roach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-roach/)

> [When one fib becomes due as it were, you must forge another to take up the old acceptance; and so the stock of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/when-one-fib-becomes-due-as-it-were-you-must-forge-another-to-take-up/)

[William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/)

> [Bring the viewer to your side, include him in your thought. He is not a bystander. You have the power to increase his perceptions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothea-lange/bring-the-viewer-to-your-side-include-him-in-your-thought-he-is-not-a/)

[Dorothea Lange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothea-lange/)

> [Each year more than 100,000 high school graduates, with proved ability, do not enter college because they cannot afford it. And if we cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/each-year-more-than-100-000-high-school-graduates-with-proved-ability/)

[Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/)

> [ The only way you can do that \[decrease taxes, balance the budget, and increase military spending\] is with mirrors… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-b-anderson/the-only-way-you-can-do-that-decrease-taxes-balance-the-budget-and/)

John B. Anderson

> [The American people reject the idea of giving Washington a blank check to increase the debt limit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-roby/the-american-people-reject-the-idea-of-giving-washington-a-blank/)

[Martha Roby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-roby/)

> [Only one thing has always helped to increase my strength increased further: I'm not alone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/only-one-thing-has-always-helped-to-increase-my-strength-increased/)

Mak\_786

> [Gratitude is the law of increase, and complaint is the law of decrease.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-scovel-shinn/gratitude-is-the-law-of-increase-and-complaint-is-the-law-of-decrease/)

[Florence Scovel Shinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-scovel-shinn/)

> [And so we have to be careful with looking at additional stimulus that we don't provoke an increase in the bond rate and then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-raines/and-so-we-have-to-be-careful-with-looking-at-additional-stimulus-that/)

[Franklin Raines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-raines/)

> [No matter the style, the farther one goes the more obstacles increase, and the more distant appears the object it is desired to attain.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-georges-noverre/no-matter-the-style-the-farther-one-goes-the-more-obstacles-increase/)

[Jean-Georges Noverre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-georges-noverre/)

Browse all 2,910 Increase quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "The main effect of the Internet on language has been to increase the expressive richness of language, providing the language with a new set of communicative dimensions that haven't existed in the past.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "David Crystal"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crystal/the-main-effect-of-the-internet-on-language-has-been-to-increase-the/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Increase"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crystal/the-main-effect-of-the-internet-on-language-has-been-to-increase-the/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/302/david-crystal-8647_increase_the-main-effect-of-the-internet-on-langu_1039237.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/302/david-crystal-8647_increase_the-main-effect-of-the-internet-on-langu_1039237.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/302/david-crystal-8647_increase_the-main-effect-of-the-internet-on-langu_1039237.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“The main effect of the Internet on language has been to increase the expressive richness of language…” — David Crystal",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "David Crystal",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-crystal/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "The main effect of the Internet...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crystal/the-main-effect-of-the-internet-on-language-has-been-to-increase-the/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-crystal/the-main-effect-of-the-internet-on-language-has-been-to-increase-the/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
