# What language looks like: Dictionary and grammar are to language what standing on one foot is to running

Canonical page: https://dominiklukes.net/writing/2014-11-05-what-language-looks-like-dictionary-and-grammar-are-to-language-what-

The piece argues that dictionaries and grammars depict language posed for analysis rather than language operating in social use.

Blog post · Metaphor Hacker · 5 November 2014

## Where it lives

- [Read it on Metaphor Hacker (metaphorhacker.net)](https://metaphorhacker.net/2014/11/what-language-looks-like-dictionary-and-grammar-are-to-language-what-standing-on-one-foot-is-to-running/)

## About this item

- Type: Blog post
- Published: 5 November 2014
- Published in: Metaphor Hacker
- Language: English

Topics: linguistics, construction-grammar, language-meaning, analogy.

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Section: [Writing](https://dominiklukes.net/writing)