John McWhorter

John Hamilton McWhorter V (born October 6, 1965) is an American linguist, author, and educator, currently an associate professor at Columbia University.

Quotes

 * We clap when our infants don't spill their food. We can afford to let go of clapping when exotic folks don't, when in our times, celebrating diversity is a shibboleth of moral legitimacy among thinking First World people, and considerably, if not comprehensibly, beyond.
 * John McWhorter, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English (Gotham Books, New York, 2008) p. 162


 * If your opinions never evolve, you’re either not paying attention or not genuinely interested.
 * Reparations Should Be an End, Not a Beginning, New York Times, June 22, 2023


 * [T]here comes a point when a usage is so common that we must consider it not slovenliness but change.
 * "Little Women" and the Art of Breaking Grammatical Rules, New York Times, April 4, 2024