The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way

Another fabulous book by Bryson. He covers "the first thousand years" of the English language, varieties of English, spelling, English as a world language, names, swearing, word games and, finally, the future of English (great). Because it is Bryson, it is also very funny and endlessly entertaining. While reading it you want to call up a friend and say, "just listen to THIS", and then read another interesting passage. So I'll do just that. Here are a few examples of contronyms: Sanction, for instance, can either signify permission to do something or a measure forbidding it to be done. Cleave can mean cut in half or stick together. A sanguine person is either hotheaded and bloodthirsty or calm and cheerful. Something that is fast is either stuck firmly or moving quickly. A door that is bolted is secure, but a horse that has bolted has taken off. If you wind up a meeting you finish it; if you wind up a watch, you start it. To ravish means to rape or to enrapture. Trying one's best is a good thing, but trying one's patience is a bad thing. A blunt instrument is dull, but a blunt remark is pointed.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this years ago, but have since read the comments here and realised how many mistakes there are in it, which is highly disappointing.

A charmer. I wrote a blog post about it: http://blog.cplesley.com/2015/06/ways....

I'm a writer, and I don't hold with slam-dunking other writers in print, because they can't reply. In a more open medium like this, I am prepared to serve Bryson as he serves others, but with a little less barren pedantry. It's an excellent book, but like so many foreigners, Bryson thinks a quick tour makes him an expert on all things Australian. WRONG!! We don't say cookie, we say biscuit. Getting that wrong is clumsy. We don't normally say "labor", we call it labour. The sole exception is in the name of the Australian Labor Party, which adopted that spelling in the 19th century. Bomboras are in the sea, not in rivers, a didgeridoo is not a form of trumpet, and outback is not an Aboriginal word (though bombora is), and we don't normally say "technicolour yawn": it was a joke put forward by Barry Humphries, not common usage. I could go on and demolish his assertions about the Australian accents (he seems to think that any one of us speaks one, only) and if somebody is going to be arch about other people's proofing, page 139, the first page of chapter 10 needs to be looked at HARD. I like the book, I just didn't appreciate the superior tone of somebody who is, like the rest of us, inclined to slip from time to time.

A fun little book about the quirks of the English language. Occasionally the author's logic is faulty, and a few facts are questionable, but overall this book provides a lot of interesting trivia about how English has changed over the years and why so much of it makes no sense.

Published: 1990 How I discovered: A Xmas present from Jamie, who is one of the world's biggest Bryson fans. What I liked: Everything! It's deliciously entertaining for word-lovers. Bryson has a wealth of knowledge and does his research well, presenting it all with his witty sarcasm and dry humor. There are chapters on history, etymology, dialects, spelling, grammar, surnames, and even swearing. What I didn't: I can't think of a single thing I didn't like. What I learned: Too much to state here. The book traces the English language back to its origins and documents its use (and abuse) ever since. Quote: By virtue of their brevity, dictionary definitions often fail to convey the nuances of English. A dictionary will tell you that tall and high mean much the same thing, but it won't explain to you that while you can apply either term to a building you can only apply tall to a person. On the strength of dictionary definitions alone a foreign visitor to your home could be excused for telling you that you have an abnormal child, that your wife's cooking is exceedingly odorous, and that your speech at a recent sales conference was laughable, and intend nothing but the warmest praise.

Entertaining and informative book about the English language. Pointing out the absurdities and inconsistencies inherent in speech and writings of English as well as it's flexibility and versatility. Bryson writes well as usual, although with less obvious humor than his later works. The book dates to 1990 so is naturally somewhat dated and one can already see how English has continued to develop since the internet developed (itself a word likely not invented at the time of writing!)

Mostly quite fun, but some of the medieval stuff made me nerd out in violent disagreement.

Great book! Bryson writes in a funny and intelligent way about the quirks and facts of the english language, and it is a good story to tell. Recommended to all who have an interest in languages!

I don't know what I expected from this book but I wanted it to be interesting and to become absorbed with all of the interesting facts. I've read a few Bill Bryson books but unfortunately by chapter 4, I didn't see much point in continuing with it. Maybe you could do better but I really would rather read something else.