Robert McCrum
British novelist, editor, and critic
WORDS ABOUT WORDS
Language follows its own path. It can bridge gulfs of class and geography in the most remarkable ways. This is not least because innovation in language is as old as human nature. It is simply the way one generation announces its superiority to, and perhaps even disdain for, the previous one. New words and phrases mark out a new experience, a new lifestyle, and a new society.
—Robert McCrum, British novelist, editor, and critic, The Story of English, 1987
Posted on May 17, 2000 at 1:49 PM
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