4 ms·
Several of these remind me of James Nicoll's old quote from Usenet: "The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as
by zipwitch 9y ago
Several of these remind me of James Nicoll's old quote from Usenet:
"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."
- gerdesj 9y agoGreat quote. English does give back a little as well as take. My current favourites are le blue jean (denim is derived from De Nimes!) and le bifteck (beef[steak] is derived from la boeuf.)
- igravious 9y agoMaybe, but there's a bit of a difference between the practice of loanwords and grammar usage.