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Loading... The Mother Tongueby Bill Bryson
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.  boekenwijs | Nov 20, 2009 |  This book was a fabulous read aloud book to share with my husband. I will never stop laughing at the memory of trying to get through the chapter on swearing while sitting in the cancer center of a Catholic hospital! I'm looking forward to reading more of Bryson's work. Even if you never thought languages interesting this one is worth the read. You will laugh out loud. (  ) VirginiaGill | Aug 19, 2009 | Chuckle-worthy and interesting as well...: This book manages to make the history of the English Language amusing and interesting. It is a thorough examination of words, how we use them and how they evolved - including swear words, cuss words, slang and everyday things like... why DID the yanks take the second 'i' out of aluminium? 1  |  iayork | Aug 9, 2009 | This book is incredibly educational, but also fun. The only problem that I had with the text is that it becomes increasingly more boring as you make your way through it. I would suggest attempting to read it while working through other things. I was really tired of reading pronunciations of southern British towns by the end of it. Incredibly scholarship. Everyone should give it a chance. (  ) Kunzelman | Aug 7, 2009 | Fairly superficial, a few unwarranted assumptions. a few errors, but an interesting read none the less. A standard Bryson book. (  ) PeterGWard | Aug 4, 2009 |  no reviews | add a review
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Bryson displays an encyclopedic knowledge of his topic, and this inevitably encourages a light tone; the more you know about a subject, the more absurd it becomes. No jokes are necessary, the facts do well enough by themselves, and Bryson supplies tens per page. As well as tossing off gems of fractured English (from a Japanese eraser: "This product will self-destruct in Mother Earth."), Bryson frequently takes time to compare the idiosyncratic tongue with other languages. Not only does this give a laugh (one word: Welsh), and always shed considerable light, it also makes the reader feel fortunate to speak English.
(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:56 -0400)
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