Purity of Language

Deanna Hoak offers this magnificent quote from James Nicoll:

“The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.”

Yea, verily (she says, trying to keep her English pure, although of course that was post-Norman Conquest and therefore already hideously corrupt).