Word Magic

“A truly untranslatable word, it seems, may be the sign of an unsustainable concept.”

“In truth, language seems less like a series of cells in which we are imprisoned than like a set of tools that help us escape: some of the files are rusty; some will open any door; and most you have to jiggle around in the lock. But, sooner or later, most words work.”

“A grotesque euphemism is offensive exactly because we recognize perfectly well the mismatch between the word and its referent. It’s an instrument of evasion, like a speeding getaway car, not an instrument of unconsciousness, like a blackjack.”

“If lucid writing is the sign of a moral state, it’s the moral state of hard work, keener effort, acquired craft—a desire to communicate rather than intimidate, to have fun with a fellow-mind rather than bully a disciple. Sane and shapely sentences are good because they’re sane and shapely. There’s no guarantee that they’ll contain the truth: lots of sane and shapely sentence markers have had silly ideas. But, like sane and shapely people and homes, they are nice to have around to look at.”

“bilingual French-English speakers tend to tell the same stories with an emphasis on “achievement” in English, and on “aggression toward peers” in French. (The English story is “I done it!”; the French version is “And the bastards tried to stop me.”)”

“We don’t speak French or Italian if we know the way to speak French and Italian.”

“(Just as English speakers don’t really notice the encoded oddities of English; for instance, that we don’t have a future tense and plans have to be conjugated as acts of will—“I’ll be going later.”)”

“When the wild strawberries are in season, you hope you find the words to get them on your plate. When the beans come, you eat the beans.”