McWhorter, John H.

Summary: Why do we say "I am reading a catalog" instead of "I read a catalog"? Why do we say "do" at all? Is the way we speak a reflection of our cultural values? Delving into these provocative topics and more, author McWhorter distills hundreds of years of lore into one lively history. Covering the little-known Celtic and Welsh influences on English, the impact of the Viking raids and the Norman...

Format: text

Publisher / Publication Date: Gotham Books 2009

Copies Available at Woodmere

1 available in Adult Non-fiction, Call number: 420.9 MCW

Feldman, David

Format: text

Publisher / Publication Date: Harper & Row 1989

Copies Available at Woodmere

1 available in Adult Non-fiction, Call number: 422 FEL

Ogilvie, Sarah

Summary: For the first time ever, this thrilling literary detective story, doubling as a celebration of words, language, people and one of mankind's greatest achievements, unravels the mystery of the contributors from around the world who, for over seventy years, helped to codify the way we read, write and speak.

Format: text

Publisher / Publication Date: Alfred A. Knopf 2023

Copies Available at Peninsula

1 available in Adult, Call number: 423.0922 OGI

Copies Available at Woodmere

1 available in Adult Non-fiction, Call number: 423.0922 OGL

Nuttall, Jennifer Anne

Summary: "An enlightening linguistic journey through a thousand years of feminist language - and what we can learn from the vivid vocabulary that English once had for women's bodies, experiences, and sexuality. So many of the words that we use to chronicle women's lives feel awkward or alien. Medical terms are scrupulously accurate but antiseptic. Slang and obscenities have shock value, yet they...

Format: text

Publisher / Publication Date: Viking 2023

Copies Available at Woodmere

1 available in Adult Non-fiction, Call number: 422 NUT

Ostler, Rosemarie

Summary: "Standard grammar and accurate spelling are widely considered hallmarks of a good education, but their exact definitions are much more contentious -- capable of inciting a full-blown grammar war at the splice of a comma, battles readily visible in the media and online in the comments of blogs and chat rooms. With an accessible and enthusiastic journalistic approach, Ostler considers these...

Format: text

Publisher / Publication Date: 2015

Copies Available at Interlochen

1 available in Adult Non-fiction, Call number: Word Ostler

Jones, Paul Anthony

Summary: Examines the etymological origins and developments of one hundred words, including "brothel," "grin," and "zombie."

Format: text

Publisher / Publication Date: Pegasus Books 2017

Copies Available at Woodmere

1 available in Adult Non-fiction, Call number: 422 JON

Rogers, John G.

Format: text

Publisher / Publication Date: Mystic Seaport Museum 1984

Copies Available at Woodmere

1 available in Adult Non-fiction, Call number: 623.803 ROG

Morris, Evan.

Format: text

Publisher / Publication Date: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill 2000

Copies Available at Woodmere

1 available in Adult Non-fiction, Call number: 422 MOR

Garrison, Webb B.

Format: text

Publisher / Publication Date: Rutledge Hill Press 2005

Copies Available at Woodmere

1 available in Adult Non-fiction, Call number: 422.03 GAR

Cook, Vivian

Format: text

Publisher / Publication Date: Melville House Publising 2010

Copies Available at Fife Lake

1 available in Adult, Call number: 808 COO

Liberman, Anatoly.

Format: text

Publisher / Publication Date: Oxford University Press 2005

Copies Available at Interlochen

1 available in Adult Non-fiction, Call number: Word Liberman

Barnhart, David K.

Format: text

Publisher / Publication Date: Houghton Mifflin 1997

Copies Available at Woodmere

1 available in Adult Non-fiction, Call number: 422 BAR

Shea, Ammon

Summary: "The author of Reading the OED presents an eye-opening look at language "mistakes" and how they came to be accepted as correct-or not. English is a glorious mess of a language, cobbled together from a wide variety of sources and syntaxes, and changing over time with popular usage. Many of the words and usages we embrace as standard and correct today were at first considered slang, impolite, or...

Format: text

Publisher / Publication Date: 2014

Copies Available at Woodmere

1 available in Adult Non-fiction, Call number: 428 SHE