“Bryson takes the reader from "The Mayflower and Before" to "American English Today" in a fascinating glimpse of American history through our language. Many of the words we use today are of uncertain origin: Bryson notes the first appearance of the word but also that its context indicates that it was already in popular use. Much of the reasonings behind why we use certain words is no more than speculation. So, really there isn't a lot of hard fact revealed about our words. Overall I thought this was a great way to take in American history. As far as a linguistics study, I wish the book would have focused more on the modern age. As with Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything, I felt that there was too much time spent building up to the more interesting stuff. To those interested in history, each chapter is essential. To those interested in language, the book could have been much shorter. In the final chapter, Bryson discusses political correctness in language, the state of America's public schools, and concerns about immigration. I would like to have seen more discussion on these topics instead of cramming them all together in twelve pages. As always, however, Bryson finds the interesting in the mundane and is at his best talking about the backstories of forgotten inventors.”
Stefanie T wrote this review Monday, February 2 2009.
(
reply |
permalink )
