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Loading... Made in Americaby Bill BrysonLibraryThing recommendationsMember recommendationsLoading...
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. I enjoy Bryson's mind. It wanders similarly to mine. He discusses many things which are peculiar to America. Interesting. Funny, interesting and informative. One fact that sticks with me is that every town in America had its own time until the railroad decided clock time needed to be standardized. What that has to do with American English I don't remember, but that's how Bryson's writing is--there are lots of fascinating side stories. 2nd book of bryson i've read, funny, insightful and observations Witty and informative historical tour of the changes in American society as reflected in its language no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com (ISBN 0380713810, Paperback)Readers from Toad Suck, Arkansas, to Idiotsville, Oregon--and everywhere in between--will love Made in America, Bill Bryson's Informal History of the English Language in the United States. It is, in a word, fascinating. After reading this tour de force, it's clear that a nation's language speaks volumes about its true character: you are what you speak. Bryson traces America's history through the language of the time, then goes on to discuss words culled from everyday activities: immigration, eating, shopping, advertising, going to the movies, and others.Made in America will supply you with interesting facts and cocktail chatter for a year or more. Did you know, for example, that Teddy Roosevelt's "speak softly and carry a big stick" credo has its roots in a West African proverb? Or that actor Walter Matthau's given name is Walter Mattaschanskayasky? Or that the supposedly frigid Puritans--who called themselves "Saints," by the way--had something called a pre-contract, which was a license for premarital sex? Made in America is an excellent discussion of American English, but what makes the book such a treasure is that it offers much, much more. (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:19 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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Beginning with the Pilgrims and making his way through both chronologically and thematically to recent times, Bryson has a way of highlighting the humorous aspects of history and linguistic quirkiness of our language. Some of interesting tidbits (note: a word that was originally "titbits" and changed in order to be less offensive) I learned included:
--Englishmen bemoaning Americanisms entering the language is nothing new
--the Pilgrims had three or four different names and types of mush
--during the American Revolution, people were not unconcerned with spelling, but merely had more variants to choose from (and even argue about!)
I'll have about as much fun recommending this book as I did reading it! (