--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My language is the common prostitute that…" description: "\"My language is the common prostitute that I turn into a virgin.\" — Karl Kraus" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56a/karl-kraus-1128_common_my-language-is-the-common-prostitute-tha_947125.png" --- # My language is the common prostitute that I turn into a… ![“My language is the common prostitute that I turn into a virgin.” quote by Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56a/karl-kraus-1128_common_my-language-is-the-common-prostitute-tha_947125.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56a/karl-kraus-1128_common_my-language-is-the-common-prostitute-tha_947125.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56a/karl-kraus-1128_common_my-language-is-the-common-prostitute-tha_947125.png) > “My language is the common prostitute that I turn into a virgin.” [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He likens his language to a prostitute transformed into purity, highlighting irony. **In simple terms:** Language can be both degraded and refined. Key Takeaway Recognize the power of words. Themes language irony transformation Mood critical reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing - public speaking - media analysis - political rhetoric Key Concepts literary criticism semantic theory Questions to Reflect On - How does language shape perception? - Can you elevate everyday speech? A Different Perspective May be too abstract for practical use. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Common](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common/) [Common Prostitute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common-prostitute-1661886/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Prostitute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prostitute/) [Prostitute Turn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prostitute-turn-1661887/) [Turn Virgin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turn-virgin-1661885/) [Turns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turns/) [Virgin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virgin/) [Virgins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virgins/) ## Related quotes > [“Cora, you can turn around now. Your virgin eyes won’t be offended any longer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franca-storm/cora-you-can-turn-around-now-your-virgin-eyes-won-t-be-offended-any/) [Franca Storm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franca-storm/) > [I wish I were a virgin again. The only fun I ever had was holding out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clare-boothe-luce/i-wish-i-were-a-virgin-again-the-only-fun-i-ever-had-was-holding-out/) [Clare Boothe Luce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clare-boothe-luce/) > [In a sense, when we started Virgin Atlantic, I was trying to create an airline for myself. If you try to build the perfect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/in-a-sense-when-we-started-virgin-atlantic-i-was-trying-to-create-an/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [The topic of the night: sleeping with virgins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-lush/the-topic-of-the-night-sleeping-with-virgins/) [Matthew Lush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-lush/) > [The year I turned ninety, I wanted to give myself the gift of a night of wild love with an adolescent virgin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/the-year-i-turned-ninety-i-wanted-to-give-myself-the-gift-of-a-night/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [“The virgins are certain there's a circle of hell dedicated to that fear you'll never find anyone else.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/analicia-sotelo/the-virgins-are-certain-there-s-a-circle-of-hell-dedicated-to-that/) [Analicia Sotelo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/analicia-sotelo/) > [This wasn’t the first time I’d been pulled out of bed for a crucial mission. It was, however, the first time I’d been subjected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/this-wasn-t-the-first-time-i-d-been-pulled-out-of-bed-for-a-crucial/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [I used to be a virgin, but I gave it up because there was no money in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marsha-warfield/i-used-to-be-a-virgin-but-i-gave-it-up-because-there-was-no-money-in/) [Marsha Warfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marsha-warfield/) > [The Virgin filled so enormous a space in the life and thought of the time that one stands now helpless before the mass of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/the-virgin-filled-so-enormous-a-space-in-the-life-and-thought-of-the/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [One night, I was chatting with a group of 16-year-old girls over a few drinks about a name for the record store ... A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/one-night-i-was-chatting-with-a-group-of-16-year-old-girls-over-a-few/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [The problem in this case was you can't be a middle-aged virgin in America without something being wrong with you. People can't conceive of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/the-problem-in-this-case-was-you-can-t-be-a-middle-aged-virgin-in/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [I had met a lady there by the name of Laura Ziffren.She heard that I got signed to Virgin and reached out to my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quindon-tarver/i-had-met-a-lady-there-by-the-name-of-laura-ziffren-she-heard-that-i/) [Quindon Tarver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quindon-tarver/) > [I'm one, too," he said. "What?" He spit a wad of blood and mucus into the dirt. "A virgin." What a shock. "What makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-yancey/i-m-one-too-he-said-what-he-spit-a-wad-of-blood-and-mucus-into-the/) [Rick Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-yancey/) > [There is a word we haven't used yet: virginity... To make a photograph, the plate must be virgin, but your eye as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edouard-boubat/there-is-a-word-we-haven-t-used-yet-virginity-to-make-a-photograph/) [Edouard Boubat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edouard-boubat/) > [For me to go into politics would be like sending a virgin into a house of ill-repute.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-me-to-go-into-politics-would-be-like-sending-a-virgin-into-a/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) ## More by Karl Kraus > [You'd be surprised how hard it can often be to translate an action into an idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/you-d-be-surprised-how-hard-it-can-often-be-to-translate-an-action/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [I don't like to meddle in my private affairs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/i-don-t-like-to-meddle-in-my-private-affairs/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [A historian is not always a prophet facing backwards, but a journalist is always someone who afterwards knew everything beforehand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/a-historian-is-not-always-a-prophet-facing-backwards-but-a-journalist/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [When a man is treated like a beast, he says, 'After all, I'm human.' When he behaves like a beast, he says 'After all,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/when-a-man-is-treated-like-a-beast-he-says-after-all-i-m-human-when/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [They judge lest they be judged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/they-judge-lest-they-be-judged/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [I and my public understand each other very well: it does not hear what I say, and I don't say what it wants to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/i-and-my-public-understand-each-other-very-well-it-does-not-hear-what/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [Satire that the censor understands is rightly censored.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/satire-that-the-censor-understands-is-rightly-censored/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [Hate must make a man productive. Otherwise one might as well love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/hate-must-make-a-man-productive-otherwise-one-might-as-well-love/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [One must read all writers twice--the good as well as the bad. The one kind will be recognized; the other, unmasked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/one-must-read-all-writers-twice-the-good-as-well-as-the-bad-the-one/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [Children today laugh at fathers who tell them about dragons. It is necessary to make fear a required subject; otherwise children will never learn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/children-today-laugh-at-fathers-who-tell-them-about-dragons-it-is/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [The little stations are very proud because the expresses have to pass them by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/the-little-stations-are-very-proud-because-the-expresses-have-to-pass/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [The unattractive thing about chauvinism is not so much the aversion to other nations as the love of one's own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/the-unattractive-thing-about-chauvinism-is-not-so-much-the-aversion/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [I have often been asked to be fair and view a matter from all sides. I did so, hoping that something might improve if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/i-have-often-been-asked-to-be-fair-and-view-a-matter-from-all-sides-i/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [In the theater one must sit in such a way that one sees the audience as a dark mass. Then it cannot bother one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/in-the-theater-one-must-sit-in-such-a-way-that-one-sees-the-audience/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [Many desire to kill me, and many wish to spend an hour chatting with me. The law protects me from the former.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/many-desire-to-kill-me-and-many-wish-to-spend-an-hour-chatting-with/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) [Explore all 275 Karl Kraus quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) ## More Common quotes > [I'm Fine!, the most common LIE in the world...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/punkinhead-abhishek/i-m-fine-the-most-common-lie-in-the-world/) [Punkinhead Abhishek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/punkinhead-abhishek/) > [A flourishing, morally credible media is a vital component in the maintenance of genuinely public talk, argument about common good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/a-flourishing-morally-credible-media-is-a-vital-component-in-the/) [Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/) > [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [The ability of the gospel to unite us on common strengths and common truths is one of the great miracles . . . of the gospel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-holland/the-ability-of-the-gospel-to-unite-us-on-common-strengths-and-common/) [Jeffrey R. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/) > [Our times demand the declaration of the world's resources as the common heritage of all people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacque-fresco/our-times-demand-the-declaration-of-the-world-s-resources-as-the/) [Jacque Fresco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacque-fresco/) > [ Neither Italian fascism nor German national "socialism" have anything in common with such a \[Soviet socialistic\] society, primarily because private ownership of factories, plants,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-stalin/neither-italian-fascism-nor-german-national-socialism-have-anything/) [Joseph Stalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-stalin/) > [When you have a cavity in your tooth and you let it get worse, eventually you have to get a root canal. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-newton-john/when-you-have-a-cavity-in-your-tooth-and-you-let-it-get-worse/) [Olivia Newton-John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-newton-john/) > [There is nothing that we can properly call our own but our time, and yet everybody fools us out of it who has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/there-is-nothing-that-we-can-properly-call-our-own-but-our-time-and/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Common sense is nothing more than a deposit of prejudices laid down in the mind before you reach eighteen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/common-sense-is-nothing-more-than-a-deposit-of-prejudices-laid-down/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [A common fallacy in much of the adverse criticism to which science is subjected today is that it claims certainty, infallibility and complete emotional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/a-common-fallacy-in-much-of-the-adverse-criticism-to-which-science-is/) [Cyril Norman Hinshelwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/) > [We can find common qualities and common values that have made Britain the country it is. Our belief in tolerance and liberty which shines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-brown/we-can-find-common-qualities-and-common-values-that-have-made-britain/) [Gordon Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-brown/) > [A time will come when the science of destruction shall bend before the arts of peace; when the genius which multiplies our powers, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-arago/a-time-will-come-when-the-science-of-destruction-shall-bend-before/) [Francois Arago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-arago/) > [… and so he tried to accept the ache in his heart as what Dr. Larch would call the common symptoms of normal life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/and-so-he-tried-to-accept-the-ache-in-his-heart-as-what-dr-larch/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [It is a tragedy that we live in a world where physical courage is so common, and moral courage is so rare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-monet/it-is-a-tragedy-that-we-live-in-a-world-where-physical-courage-is-so/) [Claude Monet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-monet/) > [Those who advocate common usage in philosophy sometimes speak in a manner that suggests the mystique of the 'common man.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/those-who-advocate-common-usage-in-philosophy-sometimes-speak-in-a/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) [Browse all 7,866 Common quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My language is the common prostitute that I turn into a virgin.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Karl Kraus" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/my-language-is-the-common-prostitute-that-i-turn-into-a-virgin/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Common" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/my-language-is-the-common-prostitute-that-i-turn-into-a-virgin/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56a/karl-kraus-1128_common_my-language-is-the-common-prostitute-tha_947125.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56a/karl-kraus-1128_common_my-language-is-the-common-prostitute-tha_947125.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56a/karl-kraus-1128_common_my-language-is-the-common-prostitute-tha_947125.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“My language is the common prostitute that I turn into a virgin.” — Karl Kraus", "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": "Karl Kraus", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "My language is the common prostitute...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/my-language-is-the-common-prostitute-that-i-turn-into-a-virgin/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/my-language-is-the-common-prostitute-that-i-turn-into-a-virgin/#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 } } ] } ```