English as inveterate lexical criminal
Published by marco on
“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 riffle their pockets for new vocabulary.”
Hat tip to ”English is a little bit like a child” by Mark Liberman (Language Log) for the reference.