--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ordinary language embodies the…" description: "\"Ordinary language embodies the metaphysics of the Stone Age.\" — J. L. Austin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffb/j-l-austin-17560_age_ordinary-language-embodies-the-metaphysi_2917108.png" --- # Ordinary language embodies the metaphysics of the Stone Age. ![“Ordinary language embodies the metaphysics of the Stone Age.” quote by J. L. Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffb/j-l-austin-17560_age_ordinary-language-embodies-the-metaphysi_2917108.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffb/j-l-austin-17560_age_ordinary-language-embodies-the-metaphysi_2917108.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffb/j-l-austin-17560_age_ordinary-language-embodies-the-metaphysi_2917108.png) > “Ordinary language embodies the metaphysics of the Stone Age.” [J. L. Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-austin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Everyday language reflects ancient, primitive worldviews. **In simple terms:** Language shows ancient thinking. Key Takeaway Update our metaphors to modern understanding. Themes language metaphysics history Mood analytical inquisitive Type philosophical academic When to use this quote - education - communication - cultural analysis Key Concepts linguistics cognitive science evolution Questions to Reflect On - How does language shape thought? - Can we modernize metaphors? A Different Perspective Language also adapts quickly to new concepts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Embodies Metaphysics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/embodies-metaphysics-4231845/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Language Embodies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language-embodies-4231846/) [Metaphysics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metaphysics/) [Metaphysics Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metaphysics-stone-4231844/) [Ordinary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary/) [Ordinary Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary-language-311359/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Stone age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stone-age/) [Stones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stones/) ## Related quotes > [Certainly ordinary language has no claim to be the last word, if there is such a thing. It embodies, indeed, something better than the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-austin/certainly-ordinary-language-has-no-claim-to-be-the-last-word-if-there/) [J. L. Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-austin/) > [Certainly ordinary language has no claim to be the last word, if there is such a thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-austin/certainly-ordinary-language-has-no-claim-to-be-the-last-word-if-there-2/) [J. L. Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-austin/) > [Literature transforms and intensifies ordinary language, deviates systematically from everyday speech. If you approach me at a bus stop and murmur Thou still unravished…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/literature-transforms-and-intensifies-ordinary-language-deviates/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [Poetry is ordinary language raised to the Nth power. 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Austin said about ordinary language, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-nagel/common-sense-doesn-t-have-the-last-word-in-ethics-or-anywhere-else/) [Thomas Nagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-nagel/) > [It is as if the ordinary language we use every day has a hidden set of signals, a kind of secret code.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-stafford/it-is-as-if-the-ordinary-language-we-use-every-day-has-a-hidden-set/) [William Stafford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-stafford/) > [Poetry is ordinary language raised to the "N th" power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-engle/poetry-is-ordinary-language-raised-to-the-n-th-power/) [Paul Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-engle/) > [Poetry is ordinary language raised to the Nth power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-engle/poetry-is-ordinary-language-raised-to-the-nth-power/) [Paul Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-engle/) > [“Grammar and ordinary language are bad guides to metaphysics. A great book might be written showing the influence of syntax on philosophy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/grammar-and-ordinary-language-are-bad-guides-to-metaphysics-a-great/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) ## More by J. L. Austin > [We become obsessed with 'truth' when discussing statements, just as we become obsessed with 'freedom' when discussing conduct...Like freedom, truth is a bare minimum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-austin/we-become-obsessed-with-truth-when-discussing-statements-just-as-we/) [J. L. Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-austin/) > [Usually it is uses of words, not words in themselves, that are properly called vague.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-austin/usually-it-is-uses-of-words-not-words-in-themselves-that-are-properly/) [J. L. Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-austin/) > [The theory of truth is a series of truisms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-austin/the-theory-of-truth-is-a-series-of-truisms/) [J. L. Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-austin/) > [In the one defense, briefly, we accept responsibility but deny that it was bad: in the other, we admit that it was bad but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-austin/in-the-one-defense-briefly-we-accept-responsibility-but-deny-that-it/) [J. L. Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-austin/) > [Are cans constitutionally iffy? Whenever, that is, we say that we can do something, or could do something, or could have done something, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-austin/are-cans-constitutionally-iffy-whenever-that-is-we-say-that-we-can-do/) [J. L. Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-austin/) > [The trouble is that the expression 'material thing' is functioning already, from the very beginning, simply as a foil for 'sense-datum'; it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-austin/the-trouble-is-that-the-expression-material-thing-is-functioning/) [J. L. Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-austin/) > [The beginning of sense, not to say wisdom, is to realize that 'doing an action,' as used in philosophy, is a highly abstract expression--it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-austin/the-beginning-of-sense-not-to-say-wisdom-is-to-realize-that-doing-an/) [J. L. Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-austin/) > [Is it true or false that Belfast is north of London? That the galaxy is the shape of a fried egg? That Beethoven was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-austin/is-it-true-or-false-that-belfast-is-north-of-london-that-the-galaxy/) [J. L. Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-austin/) > [Certainly ordinary language has no claim to be the last word, if there is such a thing. It embodies, indeed, something better than the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-austin/certainly-ordinary-language-has-no-claim-to-be-the-last-word-if-there/) [J. L. Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-austin/) > [Our common stock of words embodies all the distinctions men have found worth drawing, and the connexions they have found worth marketing, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-austin/our-common-stock-of-words-embodies-all-the-distinctions-men-have/) [J. L. Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-austin/) > [It should be quite clear, then, that there are no criteria to be laid down in general for distinguishing the real from the not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-austin/it-should-be-quite-clear-then-that-there-are-no-criteria-to-be-laid/) [J. L. Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-austin/) > [In one sense 'there are' both universals and material objects, in another sense there is no such thing as either: statements about each can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-austin/in-one-sense-there-are-both-universals-and-material-objects-in/) [J. L. Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-austin/) > [Certainly ordinary language has no claim to be the last word, if there is such a thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-austin/certainly-ordinary-language-has-no-claim-to-be-the-last-word-if-there-2/) [J. L. Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-austin/) > [I begin, then, with some remarks about 'the meaning of a word.' I think many persons now see all or part of what I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-austin/i-begin-then-with-some-remarks-about-the-meaning-of-a-word-i-think/) [J. L. 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