[gutvol-d] Re: is this the beginning of the end?

On Fri, Nov 13, 2009 at 10:37 AM, Christa & Jay Toser <user5013@aol.com> wrote:

"English doesn't borrow from other languages. English follows other languages down dark alleys, knocks them over, and goes through their pockets for loose grammar." -- Unknown

Um, the quote is from my online friend James D. Nicoll; he typed it on Usenet in 1990. The whole thing runs: "The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary." Vocabulary transfers a lot more easily than grammar :) -- Karen Lofstrom nitpicking