Linguistic Sensitivity Quotes

When I was a boy, I was taught never to use insulting expressions like, 'I've been gypped,' or, 'He welshed on the deal.'

In my youth there were words you couldn't say in front of a girl; now you can't say 'girl.'

I'm very sensitive to the English language. I studied the dictionary obsessively when I was a kid and collect old dictionaries. Words, I think, are very powerful and they convey an intention.

[On political correctness:] Any intended message mattered less than the received message, and every received message could be interpreted in whatever way the receiver wanted.

I actually have a thing about proper nouns. They clang on my ear in a weird way when I hear them dropped into movies.

Writing poetry makes you intensely conscious of how words sound, both aloud and inside the head of the reader. You learn the weight of words and how they sound to the ear.

I am such a person of words. I've spent so much of my life trying to get it right, say it right, say it eloquently, say it truthfully, say it honestly, that when I hear it said in ways that none of those adverbs would describe I find myself so repelled that it almost shuts my mind off.

Be respectful of words. They mean something.

I don't find the whole 'cougar' word that offensive.

It's interesting how people are sensitive to language and how it works.

Politically correct is the language of cowardice.

I think to be oversensitive about cliches is like being oversensitive about table manners.

...These politically correct language initiatives are misguided and harmful. They create highly entitled professional "victims" who expect to be free from any offense, and they engender a stifling atmosphere where all individuals walk on eggshells lest they might commit a linguistic capital crime.

As you can imagine, there were people who were like, "Why are you being the PC cop?" or, "This is Orwellian to tell people to stop using the word 'illegal' to refer to people." Well, I just want people to think it through.

I grew up with a grandmother from another country and having a different language in my house. That gave me an ear for accents.

I'm always thinking about being inclusive in my sentences.

I hate that word 'hate' - it should be banned.

I have to choose my words carefully because I don't want to sound like one of those who goes on about how things were better in my day.

The words 'maybe' and 'perhaps' are literally the same - the flavor is the same, the educational level is the same. But you just know when to use maybe and when to use perhaps. I think it's because of this: You get to know the tastes or musical tastes of words themselves, and this informs your choice, whether you use them or not.

To put things back into perspective, back when we as people were struggling to survive through winters, or even through the night, I feel like there's a lot of whining about whether or not you use Asian or the words Asian or Oriental, and how it's going to offend somebody, I mean give me - I mean, just shut up.

You're not allowed to call them dinosaurs any more," said Yo-less. "It's speciesist. You have to call them pre-petroleum persons.

It is silly to call fat people "gravitationally challenged", a self-righteous fetishism of language which is no more than a symptom of political frustration.

[An article about Cho] started out, "Funny, sexy, zaftig Margaret Cho..." What is "zaftig?" Isn't that German for "big fat pig?" I guess I was lucky - "zaftig" is kind of a nice word. It could have been, "Funny, sexy, OBESE Margaret Cho."

Can we call a moratorium on the use of the term 'ladyparts'? Grazia!

I've translated a lot of American literature into Japanese, and I think that what makes a good translator is, above all, a feel for language and also a great affection for the work you're translating. If one of those elements is missing the translation won't be worth much.