Text messaging is just the most recent focus of people's anxiety; what people are really worried about is a new generation gaining control of what they see as their language.

Swearing makes an excellent relief mechanism

Anyone interested in language ends up writing about the sociological issues around it.

In effect we are, bending and breaking the rules of the language. And if someone were to ask why we do it, the answer is simply: for fun

You don't talk to a linguist without having what you say taken down and used in evidence against you at some point in time.

Word books traditionally focus on unusual and quirky items. They tend to ignore the words that provide the skeleton of the language, without which it would fall apart, such as 'and' and 'what,' or words that provide structure to our conversation, such as 'hello.

A feature of English that makes it different compared with all other languages is its global spread.