< Language Equals Thought
Language Equals Thought/Quotes
"[Language] becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts. The point is that the process is reversible."
"But, when it comes to changing the language, I think they [Feminists] make some good points, because we do think in language and so the quality of our thoughts and ideas could only be as good as the quality of our language."—George Carlin, Doin' It Again/Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics
Vimes: (to the D'regs) So you think you're fighting for your freedom?
Carrot: (trying to translate) That's a rather difficult question for a D'reg, sir. You see, their word for "freedom" is the same as their word for "fighting".
At bottom, every ideal of style dictates not only how we should say things but what sort of things we may say.
The problem of the verbalistic (and the journalistic) is expressed in an aphorism earlier in the Incerto: mathematicians think in axioms, applied mathematicians in limits, probabilists in inequalities, philosophers in concepts, jurists in constructs, logicians in operators […], and journalists and other idiots in words.
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