Quotes about Vocabulary

Explore a curated collection of 80 quotes about Vocabulary at QuotesRead.com. Discover timeless wisdom, insightful thoughts, and memorable words on Vocabulary from famous authors and thinkers around the world.

Anyone who knew the word slattern was worth cultivating as a friend. — Alan Bradley, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We — James D. Nicoll
A synonym is a word you use when you can't spell the other one. — Baltasar Gracián
One of the really bad things you can do to your writing is to dress up the vocabulary, looking for long words because yo — Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Samuel Johnson said Alexander Pope's translation of the Iliad, "tuned the English tongue. — Harold Bloom, The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages
Will I have to use a dictionary to read your book?" asked Mrs. Dodypol. "It depends," says I, "how much you used the dic — Alexander Theroux, Darconville’s Cat
In the infancy of society every author is necessarily a poet, because language itself is poetry. – Owen Barfield — Philip Zaleski, The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings: J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams
Spy' is such a short ugly word. I prefer 'espionage.' Those extra three syllables really say something. — Howard Tayler, Emperor Pius Dei
How many words are you having trouble with, sir?""Just the ones that I've highlighted.""I count at least a dozen, and I — Howard Tayler, Emperor Pius Dei
OK, so the guy is cool, but... I mean own up, this is barking time, this is major lunch, this is stool approaching criti — Douglas Adams, Young Zaphod Plays It Safe
He uses the nice old words so rich in tradition to be sure I know he means it. — Frank Herbert, Dune
To enjoy and learn from what you read you must understand the meanings of the words a writer uses. You do yourself a gra — Charles Harrington Elster
A good vocabulary is not acquired by reading books written according to some notion of the vocabulary of one's age group — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Those were all big words, to be sure, but as has been said, September read often, and liked it best when words did not p — Catherynne M. Valente, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
All of us possess a reading vocabulary as big as a lake but draw from a writing vocabulary as small as a pond. The good — Roy Peter Clark, Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer
This document outlines our plan to perpetrate insurance fraud, insider trading, and character assassination....hopefully — Howard Tayler, Emperor Pius Dei
I understand the gist of your speculation,' said Rhialto. 'It is most likely nuncupatory. — Jack Vance, Rhialto the Marvellous
In so-called primitive societies there are two words for power, mana and taboo: the power which creates and the power wh — Madeleine L'Engle, Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art
I'd call him a sadistic, hippophilic necrophile, but that would be beating a dead horse. — Woody Allen
She had to fight against developing too combative a personality or becoming altogether a misanthrope. She suddenly caugh — Carl Sagan, Contact