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101 " So you and Dr Murray could make the words mean whatever you want them to mean, and we'll all have to use them that way forever? "
― Pip Williams , The Dictionary of Lost Words
102 " Words change over time, you see. The way they look, the way they sound; sometimes even their meaning changes. "
103 " Praise dulls the intellect.[Beth Thompson, quoting Dr. James Murray] "
104 " Bondmaid. It came back to me then, and I realised that the words most often used to define us were words that described our function in relation to others. Even the most benign words—maiden, wife, mother—told the world whether we were virgins or not. What was the male equivalent of maiden? I could not think of it. What was the male equivalent of Mrs., of whore, of common scold? "
105 " dictionary, "
106 " I am beginning to feel the English language is burdened by this war, Es. Everyone I meet has a new word for toilet paper, and I have not heard one that doesn’t accurately convey its origin or the experience of using it. Yet only a handful of words exist to convey a thousand horrors. "