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The eighteenth century was seized by a rage for order, manifest in a range of new phenomena: the price tag, standardised weights and measures, the proliferation of signposts on public highways, the increased use of account books and calendars.

— Henry Hitchings

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More quotes by Henry Hitchings

Early experience conditions adult life; childhood is the precinct in which we learn the rituals of maturity.

Etymology is perennially fascinating because it revives the forgotten poetry of the everyday.

Languages, we know, do not stand still. New words are borrowed or invented. Others become obsolete. Morphology alters. So does pronunciation. Words are tools we use to communicate; they bend to our needs. Many change their meanings. Some acquire prestige, and others are degraded.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Henry Hitchings (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.