--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Contrary to the foolish notion that…" description: "\"Contrary to the foolish notion that syntax is immaterial, people optimize the way they express themselves, and so express themselves differently with d..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c87/erik-naggum-8459_contrary_contrary-to-the-foolish-notion-that-synt_2204822.png" --- # Contrary to the foolish notion that syntax is immaterial… ![“Contrary to the foolish notion that syntax is immaterial, people optimize the way they express themselves, and so express themselves differently with different syntaxes.” quote by Erik Naggum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c87/erik-naggum-8459_contrary_contrary-to-the-foolish-notion-that-synt_2204822.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c87/erik-naggum-8459_contrary_contrary-to-the-foolish-notion-that-synt_2204822.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c87/erik-naggum-8459_contrary_contrary-to-the-foolish-notion-that-synt_2204822.png) > “Contrary to the foolish notion that syntax is immaterial, people optimize the way they express themselves, and so express themselves differently with different syntaxes.” [Erik Naggum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-naggum/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People adapt their expression to the syntax they use, leading to varied communication styles across different languages. **In simple terms:** Expression changes with syntax. Key Takeaway Choose syntax that fits your intent. Themes communication language expression adaptation Mood reflective analytical Type observational theoretical When to use this quote - coding - writing - teaching - cross‑cultural dialogue Key Concepts syntax theory linguistic relativity Questions to Reflect On - How does syntax shape thought? - Can uniform syntax improve clarity? A Different Perspective Different syntaxes may limit nuance or accessibility. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [People optimize locally - that is, they do what's best for themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-allman/people-optimize-locally-that-is-they-do-what-s-best-for-themselves/) [Eric Allman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-allman/) > [“What's true is immaterial. It's what people believe. Belief is the truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-marshall/what-s-true-is-immaterial-it-s-what-people-believe-belief-is-the-truth/) [Michael Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-marshall/) > [You have to learn to express differently. Whenever I do TV or film, I ask if I can see the shot to see, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-o-hare/you-have-to-learn-to-express-differently-whenever-i-do-tv-or-film-i/) [Denis O'Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-o-hare/) > [“A like N.B. that Ewell ends up inserting under the heading Biker is that every professional tattooist everybody who can remember getting their tattoos…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/a-like-n-b-that-ewell-ends-up-inserting-under-the-heading-biker-is/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [A computer program is a message from a man to a machine. The rigidly marshaled syntax and the scrupulous definitions all exist to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-brooks/a-computer-program-is-a-message-from-a-man-to-a-machine-the-rigidly/) [Fred Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-brooks/) > [since feelings come first, who cares about the syntax of things?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/since-feelings-come-first-who-cares-about-the-syntax-of-things/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [Who dreamt and made incarnate gaps in Time & Space through images juxtaposed, and trapped the archangel of the soul between 2 visual images…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/who-dreamt-and-made-incarnate-gaps-in-time-space-through-images/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [Composing computer programs to solve scientific problems is like writing poetry. You must choose every word with care and link it with the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-lovelock/composing-computer-programs-to-solve-scientific-problems-is-like/) [James Lovelock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-lovelock/) > [ \[Dennis Mathis\] was very sensitive about keeping the unique way that I spoke English - it had a lot of Mexicanisms or Mexican syntax.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-cisneros/dennis-mathis-was-very-sensitive-about-keeping-the-unique-way-that-i/) [Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) > [ Poetry springs directly from our primal need and capacity for communication\[Poetry\] mobilizes such a concentration of devices, such an intensification of language via rhythm,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sven-birkerts/poetry-springs-directly-from-our-primal-need-and-capacity-for/) [Sven Birkerts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sven-birkerts/) > [The constitution of madness as a mental illness, at the end of the eighteenth century, affords the evidence of a broken dialogue, posits the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/the-constitution-of-madness-as-a-mental-illness-at-the-end-of-the/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [You have to be ready, and also you have to discard notions that are fondly held by a lot of musicians, about sequences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-garcia/you-have-to-be-ready-and-also-you-have-to-discard-notions-that-are/) [Jerry Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-garcia/) > [“You must know in what way you are going to use the morphology and syntax to build your 'how”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-vanderbuilt/you-must-know-in-what-way-you-are-going-to-use-the-morphology-and/) [Frederick Vanderbuilt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-vanderbuilt/) > [ Avant-garde theatre, with its distrust of the individual (that bourgeois invention), tends to go beyond \[character\] and the psychological approach in search of a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrice-pavis/avant-garde-theatre-with-its-distrust-of-the-individual-that/) Patrice Pavis > [“Do not be alarmed by the minor inconsistencies in the syntax. They are meant to heighten your level of attention and thereby make you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-geary/do-not-be-alarmed-by-the-minor-inconsistencies-in-the-syntax-they-are/) David Geary ## More by Erik Naggum > [Structure is nothing if it is all you got. Skeletons spook people if they try to walk around on their own. I really wonder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-naggum/structure-is-nothing-if-it-is-all-you-got-skeletons-spook-people-if/) [Erik Naggum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-naggum/) > [The only important property of evils of the past is that they not be repeated in the future, in any way, shape, or form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-naggum/the-only-important-property-of-evils-of-the-past-is-that-they-not-be/) [Erik Naggum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-naggum/) > [Some people are little more than herd animals, flocking together whenever the world becomes uncomfortable … I am not one of those people. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-naggum/some-people-are-little-more-than-herd-animals-flocking-together/) [Erik Naggum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-naggum/) > [They don't make poles long enough for me want to touch Microsoft products, and I don't want any mass-marketed game-playing device or Windows appliance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-naggum/they-don-t-make-poles-long-enough-for-me-want-to-touch-microsoft/) [Erik Naggum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-naggum/) > [Ignoring for a moment the power of the American Medical Association, we still wouldn't see a huge amount of books on neurosurgery for dummies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-naggum/ignoring-for-a-moment-the-power-of-the-american-medical-association/) [Erik Naggum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-naggum/) > [I have actually programmed a fair bit in Perl, like I have C++ code published with my name on it. Other things I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-naggum/i-have-actually-programmed-a-fair-bit-in-perl-like-i-have-c-code/) [Erik Naggum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-naggum/) > [Part of any serious QA is removing Perl code the same way you go over a dilapidated building you inherit to remove chewing gum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-naggum/part-of-any-serious-qa-is-removing-perl-code-the-same-way-you-go-over/) [Erik Naggum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-naggum/) > [I have a cat, so I know that when she digs her very sharp claws into my chest or stomach it's really a sign…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-naggum/i-have-a-cat-so-i-know-that-when-she-digs-her-very-sharp-claws-into/) [Erik Naggum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-naggum/) > [Constructing a social system that tends to those who agree with it is a piece of cake compared to constructing one that makes those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-naggum/constructing-a-social-system-that-tends-to-those-who-agree-with-it-is/) [Erik Naggum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-naggum/) > [If, however, one factor is too successful, it will continue to be the winning factor regardless of the variation in the other factors over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-naggum/if-however-one-factor-is-too-successful-it-will-continue-to-be-the/) [Erik Naggum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-naggum/) > [C++ is a language strongly optimized for liars and people who go by guesswork and ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-naggum/c-is-a-language-strongly-optimized-for-liars-and-people-who-go-by/) [Erik Naggum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-naggum/) > [Gotos aren't damnable to begin with. If you aren't smart enough to distinguish what's bad about some gotos from all gotos, goto hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-naggum/gotos-aren-t-damnable-to-begin-with-if-you-aren-t-smart-enough-to/) [Erik Naggum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-naggum/) > [I have come to believe that large print, thick and heavy paper, and wide margins and oversize leading is indicative of the expected intelligence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-naggum/i-have-come-to-believe-that-large-print-thick-and-heavy-paper-and/) [Erik Naggum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-naggum/) > [The fundamental deficiency in HTML is that it reduces hypertext and the intertwinedness of human communication to a question of how it is rendered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-naggum/the-fundamental-deficiency-in-html-is-that-it-reduces-hypertext-and/) [Erik Naggum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-naggum/) > [The currency in the developer community is enthusiasm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-naggum/the-currency-in-the-developer-community-is-enthusiasm/) [Erik Naggum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-naggum/) [Explore all 80 Erik Naggum quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-naggum/) ## More Contrary quotes > [To preserve an unclouded capacity for the enjoyment of life is an unusual moral and psychological achievement. Contrary to popular belief, it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-branden/to-preserve-an-unclouded-capacity-for-the-enjoyment-of-life-is-an/) [Nathaniel Branden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-branden/) > [Holy shadows of the dead, I'm not to blame for your cruel and bitter fate, but the accursed rivalry which brought sister nations and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-the-great/holy-shadows-of-the-dead-i-m-not-to-blame-for-your-cruel-and-bitter/) [Alexander the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-the-great/) > [There is a spirit which I feel that delights to do no evil, nor to revenge any wrong, but delights to endure all things,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nayler/there-is-a-spirit-which-i-feel-that-delights-to-do-no-evil-nor-to/) James Nayler > [Alcohol doesn't console, it doesn't fill up anyone's psychological gaps, all it replaces is the lack of God. It doesn't comfort man. 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Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [I am not Christ or a philanthropist, old lady, I am all the contrary of a Christ I fight for the things I believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/che-guevara/i-am-not-christ-or-a-philanthropist-old-lady-i-am-all-the-contrary-of/) [Che Guevara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/che-guevara/) > [“Do they think that they have given us great pleasure by telling us that they hold our soul to be no more than wind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/do-they-think-that-they-have-given-us-great-pleasure-by-telling-us/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [God has given this way of life to Israel: to abstain from everything which is contrary to nature, that is to say, anger, fits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/poemen/god-has-given-this-way-of-life-to-israel-to-abstain-from-everything/) [Poemen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/poemen/) > [ We have reached a situation where a theory has been accepted as fact by some, and possible contrary evidence is shunted aside. \[This is\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-shapiro/we-have-reached-a-situation-where-a-theory-has-been-accepted-as-fact/) [Robert Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-shapiro/) > [Christianity, righty understood, is utterly unlike religion that man invents. 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