Nov
4
“
Knowing English is a matter of controlling a system within which words can be deployed in a norm-governed way. Master that system, and you can understand sentences even if the words in them are unfamiliar to you.
If I tell you that all the quemmicks have been sparbulated by a dortfracket, you know I’ve told you something in English. And you actually know what it is. You know I’ve said that a dortfracket has sparbulated the quemmicks. You can assume that unsparbulated quemmicks are thus likely to be in short supply, and it’s because of some dortfracket’s actions. Not that you have a clue what quemmicks or dortfrackets are, or what ensparbulation amounts to, but those are not questions about English.
” Geoffrey Pullum - “Permalinks, Ensparbulaion, Etc.”
