Language Myths

This book has a good heart, and a few really solid essays--Dennis Preston (funny guy, incidentally) on prestige ranking of American accents and JK Chambers on TV's non-effect on language change (the reason I bought it originally, and while a little offended that a certain nameless someone referred me to the shibboleths book to prove the point, I am also convinced). Some of the others are definitely kindergarten, and I don't mean for language scholars, but surely even the gen-pub doesn't needto be told that some languages aren't intrinsically "harder" or "more expressive" or "faster" or "more primitive" than others, and that language change isn't language decline? Then I think about how quickly I can come up with five people who have show more said just the opposite on one of these matters in the last six weeks, and how stubborn they were, and I'm like "oh yeah." So there is definitely a place for this book, even if I suspect most of the prescriptivists and cavilers will require more convincing than it provides. And it's a quick read. show less

Such a treat: 21 short essays addressing common linguistic misunderstandings, misapprehensions and misbeliefs. Everything you thought you knew about languages (yours and others) is wrong and now we know why. And so entertainingly presented! This book costs so little and is so filled with useful information in so few pages that there's no excuse for not learning what you shouldn't believe about words, and why.

Contrary to the back cover, I don't imagine this book would be a very valuable source for the "language professional," but for introductory purposes and the "lay person," it is very valuable. It's capable of giving non-professionals a whole new perspective on language, particularly a sociolinguisitic one. As one would hope from a book written by linguists, it is well written. The book's short length is a plus, not because we want to be done with it, but because it avoids bogging down a reader who's just trying to get a basic understanding of the concepts.

Slightly disappointing. As a linguist, I feel a professional obligation to be able to dispel the kinds of misconceptions the essays in Language Myths describe, and I hoped it would be a compendium of snappy counterexamples to naive Whorfianism, cultural stereotypes, etc. There are some of those, but there's also a lot of redundant description of the difference between prescriptive and descriptive linguistics. Some of this arises from the format of the book—because it's a collection of authors writing about a common theme, they all feel compelled to cover some of the same ground. Selections from this book would make good reading in an introductory linguistics class, and I suppose it would be eye-opening for people who've never thought show more about these issues before. For me though, I was hoping for more arguments and less assertions in favor of descriptivism. show less

My TESOL instructor lent me this book. It is a collection of essays from academic linguists that tackle popular myths about language--such as, do they really speak like Shakespeare in Appalachia? Do women talk more than men? Are some languages spoken more quickly than others? Does TV really make people sound the same?

Not as entertaining as, say, Bryson's The Mother Tongue, but probably much more accurate, this book is full of fascinating tidbits for every linguistic dork.

Mildly informative and mildly entertaining book about some widely held language myths. Overall it takes aim at the premise that there are permanent rules for a language (the prescriptive approach) but this isn't exactly new news. Language mavens, however, will enjoy it.

Each chapter is an essay which examines a common language myth. (E.g.: Appalachian English is Shakespeare's English, some languages are more logical than others, words shouldn't change meaning, etc.) An excellent resource for anyone who wants to get rid of their own language misconceptions or learn to defend against the miconceptions of others.