... Once she rather surprised both Jo and me by saying during one lesson when he seemed particularly recalcitrant and demanded another reason for why he had to improve his Interling:
Besides, think how tiring your clumsy speech will be to your readers.
My what?He had already, with great difficulty, mastered his final consonants.
You have undertaken an enterprise of great pith and moment, and I am sure someday somebody will set it down. If you don't improve your diction, you will lose your entire audience before page forty. I suggest you seriously apply yourself, because you are in for quite an exciting time, and it would be rather sad if everyone abandoned you halfway through because of your atrocious grammar and pronunciation.-- Samuel R. Delaney, Empire Star (p. 32)
- Currently drinking: Lychee black tea