It hasn't been a problem with Ben, I think we worked together very well, we don't have rows. David Crystal benproblemrow Change image and share on social
Texting has added a new dimension to language use, but its long-term impact is negligible. It is not a disaster. David Crystal adddimensiondisaster Change image and share on social
English has been this vacuum cleaner of a language, because of its history meeting up with the Romans and then the Danes, the Vikings and then the French and then the Renaissance with all the Latin and Greek and Hebrew in the background. David Crystal backgroundcleandane share on social
Text messaging is just the most recent focus of people's anxiety; what people are really worried about is a new generation gaining control of what they see as their language. David Crystal anxietycontrolfocus Change image and share on social
At the same time we overlap, because, I do linguistics, and Ben did a first degree in Linguistics at Lancaster University, so he knows some of my subject. David Crystal bendegreelancaster Change image and share on social
It took three years to put Shakespeare's words together, there were a lot of words to be studied and a lot of words to be sorted out, and it proved to be a major project. David Crystal lotmajorproject Change image and share on social
Language has no independent existence apart from the people who use it. It is not an end in itself; it is a means to an end of understanding who you are and what society is like. David Crystal endexistenceindependent Change image and share on social
Word books traditionally focus on unusual and quirky items. They tend to ignore the words that provide the skeleton of the language, without which it would fall apart, such as 'and' and 'what,' or words that provide structure to our conversation, such as 'hello.' David Crystal bookconversationfall share on social
Ever since the arrival of printing - thought to be the invention of the devil because it would put false opinions into people's minds - people have been arguing that new technology would have disastrous consequences for language. David Crystal arguearrivalconsequence share on social
A feature of English that makes it different compared with all other languages is its global spread. David Crystal compareenglishfeature Change image and share on social
