“The thing about words is that meanings can twist just like a snake, and if you want to find snakes look for them behind words that have changed their meaning.”
Source: Lords and Ladies
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Terry Pratchett 796
English author 1948–2015Related quotes

“Thy words are like a cloud of winged snakes;
And yet I pity those they torture not.”
Prometheus, Act I, l. 632
Prometheus Unbound (1818–1819; publ. 1820)

“Everyone looks on me like a black snake.”
Babington Letter (1870)

Other

Shout Magazine, in the issue from August, in the article "Cookin' with Christopher Walken" (2001)

“Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.”
Variant: "Where can I find a man who has forgotten words? He is the one I would like to talk to."
Context: A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words. Where can I find someone who's forgotten words so I can have a word with him?...