Richard Lederer - The miracle of language (1991)

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Like flint tools and weaving, each new word is a human invention, spoken or written for the very first time by a particular human being at a particular moment. We human beings are the word makers, and it is we who decide what words mean and when their meanings change.

Richard Lederer

Words are such an integral part of our consciousness that we believe they have always existed, like stones and grass and bushes. But this is not true.

Richard Lederer

Language is a window through which we look at the world. A growing number of people have begun to wonder if our window on reality has a glass that distorts our view. If language reflects culture and in turn influences culture, could it be that the window through which we see life is marked by cracks, smudges, blind spot, and filters?

Richard Lederer