On Language: Invention is Rife in Linguistic Behavior

"It's worth considering that standard English is a sort of invented language. It's not really the language that any particular person speaks. It's a sort of abstraction from that, with some rules added on about how you would do it if you were doing it at your best. It's not really a natural language for most English speakers. So, invention is rife in linguistic behavior."

Michael Adams, author of From Elvish to Klingon: Exploring Invented Languages to Milton Rosenberg on WGN radio

A podcast of the interview, and, indeed, many, many podcasts of the Extension 720 program hosted by Dr. Milton Rosenberg can be found here on the WGN Radio web site.

The Ol' Give-and-Take

"A taker may sometimes eat better, but a giver sleeps better."

Danny Thomas, as quoted by Marlo Thomas

Love . . .

They'd never been lovers, of course, not in the physical sense. But they'd been lovers as most of us manage. Loving through expressions and gestures and by the palm set softly upon the bruise at the necessary moment. Lovers by inclination rather than by lust. Lovers, that is, by love.

From Out of Oz , by Gregory Maguire