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
You don't talk to a linguist without having what you say taken down and used in evidence against you at some point in time. David Crystal evidencelinguistpoint Change image and share on social
At any one time language is a kaleidoscope of styles, genres and dialects. David Crystal dialectgenrekaleidoscope Change image and share on social
Vocabulary is a matter of word-building as well as word-using. David Crystal buildmattervocabulary Change image and share on social
Sending a message on a mobile phone is not the most natural of ways to communicate. The keypad isn't linguistically sensible. David Crystal communicatekeypadlinguistically Change image and share on social
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
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
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
Spellings are made by people. Dictionaries - eventually - reflect popular choices. David Crystal choicedictionaryeventually Change image and share on social
As I get older and I get a few more years experience I become more like Dad, you know, King Lear. David Crystal dadexperienceking Change image and share on social
