All language is a popularity contest. Erin McKean contestlanguagepopularity Change image and share on social
By the time the traditionally male lexicographers become interested in looking at fashion words, their origins are lost in the mists of time. Erin McKean fashioninterestlexicographer Change image and share on social
Language is a nice way to remember things. Erin McKean languageniceremember Change image and share on social
There are very few good ways to get publicity for a dictionary. Erin McKean dictionarygoodpublicity Change image and share on social
Writers who hedge their use of unfamiliar, infrequent, or informal words with 'I know that's not a real word,' hoping to distance themselves from criticism, run the risk of creating doubt where perhaps none would have naturally arisen. Erin McKean arisecreatecriticism share on social
You can limit the number of invitations to an in-person fashion show, but you can't police the Internet. Erin McKean fashioninternetinvitation Change image and share on social
There are hundreds of thousands of words that aren't in any print dictionary today... because there's no space for all of them. Erin McKean dictionaryhundredprint Change image and share on social
Uniforms are intended to make the wearer look as strong as possible. Soldiers could fight in leotards, but that's never going to happen because leotards aren't intimidating. Erin McKean fighthappenintend Change image and share on social
Objections to verbification in English tend to be motivated by personal taste, not clarity. Verbed words are usually easily understood. When a word like 'friend' is declared not a verb, the problem isn't that it's confusing; it's that the protester finds it deeply annoying. Erin McKean annoyclarityconfuse share on social
