Author: Laurie Bauer Publisher: Penguin UK ISBN: 0141939109 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 282
Book Description
A unique collection of original essays by 21 of the world's leading linguists. The topics discussed focus on some of the most popular myths about language: The Media Are Ruining English; Children Can't Speak or Write Properly Anymore; America is Ruining the English Language. The tone is lively and entertaining throughout and there are cartoons from Doonesbury andThe Wizard of Id to illustrate some of the points. The book should have a wide readership not only amongst students who want to read leading linguists writing about popular misconceptions but also amongst the large number of people who enjoy reading about language in general.
Author: Patricia T. O'Conner Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks ISBN: 0812978102 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 290
Book Description
Do you cringe when a talking head pronounces “niche” as NITCH? Do you get bent out of shape when your teenager begins a sentence with “and”? Do you think British spellings are more “civilised” than the American versions? If you answered yes to any of those questions, you’re myth-informed. In Origins of the Specious, word mavens Patricia T. O’Conner and Stewart Kellerman reveal why some of grammar’s best-known “rules” aren’t—and never were—rules at all. This playfully witty, rigorously researched book sets the record straight about bogus word origins, politically correct fictions, phony français, fake acronyms, and more. Here are some shockers: “They” was once commonly used for both singular and plural, much the way “you” is today. And an eighteenth-century female grammarian, of all people, is largely responsible for the all-purpose “he.” From the Queen’s English to street slang, this eye-opening romp will be the toast of grammarphiles and the salvation of grammarphobes. Take our word for it.
Author: Richard J. Watts Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0195327608 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 353
Book Description
Language Myths and the History of English deconstructs common myths about the historical development of English and looks at the ideological reasons for their existence.
Author: K. Stollznow Publisher: Springer ISBN: 1137404868 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 369
Book Description
Can a bump on the head cause someone to speak with a different accent? Can animals, aliens, and objects talk? Can we communicate with gods, demons, and the dead? Language Myths, Mysteries and Magic is a curio shop full of colourful superstitions, folklore, and legends about language.
Author: Przemyslaw Zywiczynski Publisher: Peter Lang Gmbh, Internationaler Verlag Der Wissenschaften ISBN: 9783631756034 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 247
Book Description
Language origins - Language evolution - Evolutionism - History of linguistics - History of ideas - History of science - Philosophy of language - Glottogony - Glossogeny - Darwinism - Neo-Darwinian synthesis - Biological foundations of language
Author: David Wilton Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0199740836 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 240
Book Description
Do you "know" that posh comes from an acronym meaning "port out, starboard home"? That "the whole nine yards" comes from (pick one) the length of a WWII gunner's belt; the amount of fabric needed to make a kilt; a sarcastic football expression? That Chicago is called "The Windy City" because of the bloviating habits of its politicians, and not the breeze off the lake? If so, you need this book. David Wilton debunks the most persistently wrong word histories, and gives, to the best of our actual knowledge, the real stories behind these perennially mis-etymologized words. In addition, he explains why these wrong stories are created, disseminated, and persist, even after being corrected time and time again. What makes us cling to these stories, when the truth behind these words and phrases is available, for the most part, at any library or on the Internet? Arranged by chapters, this book avoids a dry A-Z format. Chapters separate misetymologies by kind, including The Perils of Political Correctness (picnics have nothing to do with lynchings), Posh, Phat Pommies (the problems of bacronyming--the desire to make every word into an acronym), and CANOE (which stands for the Conspiracy to Attribute Nautical Origins to Everything). Word Myths corrects long-held and far-flung examples of wrong etymologies, without taking the fun out of etymology itself. It's the best of both worlds: not only do you learn the many wrong stories behind these words, you also learn why and how they are created--and what the real story is.
Author: Laurie Bauer
Author: Patricia T. O'Conner
Author: Elizabeth Solopova
Author: Richard J. Watts
Author: Eric Lawrence Gans
Author: K. Stollznow
Author: Przemyslaw Zywiczynski
Author: David Wilton
Author: Ulli Beier
Author: Michael Witzel