Our doctrine must not at all be understood as implying that there is no reason why anything is called as it is: there is in every case a reason; only the present use of the name is not dependent on it; it cannot always be found out; and, if found, it is grounded on convenience, not on necessity of any kind.
- Whitney (1875), a pag.143

Such a word [compound] is logically an abbreviated descriptive phrase, with the signs of relation, the ordinary inflections or connectives, omitted; the two main ideas are put side by side, and the mind left to infer their relation to one another from the known circumstances of the case. It is so far an abnegation, for the sake of brevity and convenience […].
- Whitney (1875), a pag.121

The only tendency which we can discover in its [of ‘bishop’ from ‘episkopos’] treatment is a tendency toward economy of effort in its utterance; it has been reshaped to suit better the convenience of those who used it.
- Whitney (1875), a pag.48-49

When a human being is born into the world, custom, founded in convenience, requires that he have a name; and those who are responsible for his existence furnish the required adjunct, according to their individual tastes, which are virtually a reflection of those of the community in which they live.
- Whitney (1875), a pag.135