At a certain point, what people mean when they use a word becomes its meaning.
William SafireRead
Dangling punch lines to forgotten stories remain in the language like the smile of the Cheshire cat.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights how unfinished tales linger in language, much like a lingering smile suggests a hidden story.
William Safire's quote suggests that incomplete narratives or unresolved tales persist in language similarly to the iconic smile of the Cheshire cat from 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'. This lingering presence points to the idea that language carries echoes of untold stories, inviting reflection on what remains unspoken and the deeper meanings hidden within communication.
Themes
LanguageStoriesCommunicationNarrativesMeaning
In practice
Example use cases
In a literary discussion about the importance of language in storytelling.
More from William Safire
All quotes βPreviously known for its six syllables of sweetness and light, reconciliation has become the political fighting word of the year.
William SafireRead
Never assume the obvious is true.
William SafireRead
Stop worrying about the 'dumbing down' of our language by bloggers, tweeters, cableheads and MSM thumbsuckers engaged in a 'race to the bottom' of the page by little minds confined to little words.
William SafireRead
Is sloppiness in speech caused by ignorance or apathy? I don't know and I don't care.
William SafireRead
Sometimes I know the meaning of a word but am tired of it and feel the need for an unfamiliar, especially precise or poetic term, perhaps one with a nuance that flatters my readership's exquisite sensitivity.
William SafireRead
Similar quotes
Language makes infinite use of finite media.
Wilhelm Von HumboldtRead
People have been warning us that language was going to the dogs ever since Latin started turning into French. Yet the dogs in question never seem to emerge yelping on the horizon.
John McwhorterRead
Long human words (the longer the better) were easy, unmistakable, and rarely changed their meanings . . . but short words were slippery, unpredictable, changing their meanings without any pattern.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
Look at almost any passage, and you'll find that a paragraph has five or six metaphors in it. It's not that the speaker is trying to be poetic, it's just that that's the way language works.
Steven PinkerRead
A standard international language should not only be simple, regular, and logical, but also rich and creative.
Edward SapirRead
Language is not an abstract construction of the learned, or of dictionary makers, but is something arising out of the work, needs, ties, joys, affections, tastes, of long generations of humanity, and has its bases broad and low, close to the ground
Noah WebsterRead