Robert Burchfield Quotes

The English language is rather like a monster accordion, stretchable at the whim of the editor, compressible ad lib.

To finish is both a relief and a release from an extraordinarily pleasant prison.

American English is the greatest influence of English everywhere.

Vulgarity finds its antidote; old crudities become softened with time. Distinctions, both those that are useful and those that are burdensome, flourish and die, reflourish and die again.

Lexicography is a chastening as well as an illuminating and fascinating art.

Computer users soon learn that the miraculous powers of personal computers are based on avoidance of error.