Home / Quotes / Quote by Kory Stamper

Quote by Kory Stamper

“Most people, if they think at all about the dictionary, think of it as this fixed object given to us from on high. It is the thing that legitimizes language and makes language real. You never think that it's actually compiled by living, breathing nerds like me. When you realize that it's compiled by people, it becomes a different thing, a different kind of document.”

Quote by Kory Stamper

Author

Limited information is available about Kory Stamper, whose occupation and category are unknown. more

You May Also Like

“There is a certain amount of racist behaviour, a certain amount of this mindset, in the darker recesses of every community. It needs to be called what it is, which is vile and hateful. It's starting a national conversation, which is probably long overdue. Because we do, as a country, have an awkward problem with a certain amount of racism in the hearts of I believe a small number of people, but I still believe we have to chase it out.”

People Believe Heart Long Country Problem I Believe Community Racism Mindset Racist Awkward Hateful I Still Believe

Author:Don Iveson

“There's a measure of prescriptivism and descriptivism in every dictionary. Prescriptivism believes that the language should mirror the best practices of English, and editors are prescriptivist in so far as they don't want to let things they consider to be inelegant or ungrammatical into print.”

Believe Language Print Dictionary

Author:Kory Stamper

“Back in the 19th century, our marketing folks decided to play up the refined usage angle because prescriptivism was very popular: our dictionary is where you go to learn anything about anything. That really set the tone in North America for how people responded to dictionaries.”

People Marketing Dictionary 19th Century Very Popular

Author:Kory Stamper

“Language is the primary way we communicate with each other, and we have really strong feelings about what words mean, and about good language and bad. Those things are really based on sort of an agglutination of half-remembered rules from high school or college, and our own personal views on language and the things we grew up saying, the things we grew up being told not to say.”

Mean Feelings School Language Strong College High School Communicate Strong Feeling

Author:Kory Stamper

“I make the case in the book that Standard English, that language we all aspire to live and move and have our being within, is actually based on a fiction. It's not anyone's native way of speaking or writing. That's why we have to take classes in it. Language is just really squishy.”

Writing Book Moving Language Native

Author:Kory Stamper

“We are a people that let the small things just go by because it's a little uncomfortable and nobody wants to ruffle a feather. If you're quiet and you're watching it, you're just as much at fault as the person there. You're watching a victim be berated and you're standing by, knowing that feeling in your gut that it's wrong. Now you have a tool in order to change that.”

People Feelings Quiet Victim Uncomfortable Guts Feathers Small Things

Author:Don Iveson

“Mainstream Canadians, what some might call the dominant culture, like to think this racism doesn't happen. It's important to remind people that it does and that we have work to do to end it.”

People Thinking Important Culture Racism

Author:Don Iveson

“Whenever you try and simplify how people speak, it's just hard to squish them into a simple rule. Language doesn't work that way.”

People Trying Speak Language Simple Simplify

Author:Kory Stamper

“What makes autocorrect really interesting for a lexicographer is we read in a very weird way. A lot of times we'll catch things that are so clearly autocorrect typos, and you learn to tell the difference between an honest-to-goodness, ham-fisted typo and an autocorrect typo because the latter will not necessarily be a difference of one letter apart on the keyboard, which is usually what typos are, or it won't be the wrong its or the wrong there.”

Interesting Really Interesting

Author:Kory Stamper

“I certainly self-police my language depending on who I'm talking to. I try to be very careful about using filler words, about not drawling certain vowels, even when I can't say "drawl" without drawling. That's kind of sad, because self-policing inhibits communication. You're more focused on the words coming out of your mouth or that should not be coming out of your mouth than making a connection with the person you're speaking to.”

Trying Kind Language Communication Careful Focused

Author:Kory Stamper