July 4, 2008

The cribhouse whore

In 1990, in the Usenet group rec.arts.sf-lovers, James D. Nicoll wrote the following epigram on the English language:

The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.

More Nicoll quotes here.

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