The classic text on how to speak and write English 'correctly.' *** "In the preparation of this little work the writer has kept one end in view, viz.: To make it serviceable for those for whom it is intended, that is, for those who have neither the time nor the opportunity, the learning nor the inclination, to peruse elaborate and abstruse treatises on Rhetoric, Grammar, and Composition. To them such works are as gold enclosed in chests of steel and locked beyond power of opening. This book has no pretension about it whatever, -it is neither a Manual of Rhetoric, expatiating on the dogmas of style, nor a Grammar full of arbitrary rules and exceptions. It is merely an effort to help ordinary, everyday people to express themselves in ordinary, everyday language, in a proper manner."

《语言与文化》的内容、旨趣和观点，在“引言”和“总结”两章里已经交代过了，这里无需再多说。材料虽是从各方面搜集来的，但贯串编排却是我自己的初次尝试。不用说，形式和实质上的缺陷当然很多，还希望读者们切实批评，好让它能有进一步的改善。语言学的工作，它怎能配合上建国的事业，那得靠一些认清楚任务的人来继续努力，通同合作。中国话的条理，它的结构、范畴，究竟对于中国人的思想有什么关系，我们该怎样用语言的工具来改进中国文化，那工具本身该怎么修改，这些问题是极难回答的。