A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged, it is the skin of a living thought and may vary greatly in color and content according to the circumstances and the time in which it is used. – Oliver Wendell Holmes

Our language is funny — a fat chance and slim chance are the same thing. – J. Gustav White

Language exerts hidden power, like the moon on the tides. – Rita Mae Brown

I hate women because they have brought into the currency of our language such expressions as “all righty” and “yes indeedy” and hundreds of others. – James Thurber, “The Case Against Women”