Original sentence: Benjamin Whorf's theory of linguistic relativism holds that the language we speak both affects and reflects our view of the world.In a popular 1940 article on the subject, he referred to Eskimo languages having seven distinct words for snow.Later writers inflated the figure.On February 9, 1984 the New York Times gave the number as one hundred in an editorial.The idea that Eskimos had hundreds of words for snow--indeed, hundreds of unique and fairly unrelated words--has given rise to the idea that Eskimos viewed snow very differently than people of other cultures.Thus their language is thought to impose a particular of the  view of the world – not just for Eskimo languages, but for all groups.To them, each word is supposedly an separate concept.Vulgarized versions of Whorf's theories hold not only that Eskimo speakers can choose among several snow words, but further, that they were unable to understand our categorizing all seven (or however many) as "snow".Whorf himself, a well-informed and respectful student of Native American cultures, held more sophisticated views
Edited sentence: A work of Whorf in a highly popular 1940 MIT technical journal arbitrarily inflated the list to seven different words -- and the myth snowballed from there.Benjamin Whorf, however, believed that the language we speak both affects and reflects our view of the world.If that were the truth for Eskimo languages, Whorf theorized, it must also be the same for others.In an attempt to better support his theory of linguistic relativism, he latched onto Eskimo languages' distinctions among words for snow.On February 9 1984 the New York Times gave the number as one hundred in an editorial.The idea that Eskimos had hundreds of words for snow--indeed, hundreds of unique and fairly unrelated words--gave credence to Whorf's theory of linguistic relativism by suggesting that Eskimos viewed snow very differently than people of other cultures.Their language was responsible for their view of the world.To them, each word was an entirely different concept.Whorf believed that not only could Eskimo speakers choose one of several words, they were totally unable to understand our categorizing all seven (or however many) as "snow"