Weeds in the Garden of Words: Further Observations on the Tangled History of the English Language [Hardcover]

Kate Burridge provides an entertaining look at 'unacceptable' words, phrases and pronunciations in English.The English language is a glorious garden, but it also contains some weeds. Linguistic weeds may be slang expressions, non-standard pronunciations, or constructions that are out of place. But what one gardener calls a 'weed', another may call a 'flower'. The same goes for words and their usage in English. Following the international success of Blooming English, Kate Burridge provides another entertaining excursion into our complex and captivating language.'A delight to read. Only Pinker can write this engagingly about language.'Professor Charles F. Meyer, University of Massachusetts, BostonThe English language is a glorious garden, but it also contains some weeds. Linguistic weeds may be slang expressions, non-standard pronunciations, or constructions that are out of place. But what one gardener calls a 'weed', another may call a 'flower'. The same goes for words and their usage in English. Following the international success of Blooming English, Kate Burridge provides another entertaining excursion into our complex and captivating language.'A delight to read. Only Pinker can write this engagingly about language.'Professor Charles F. Meyer, University of Massachusetts, BostonKate Burridge follows the international success of Blooming English with another entertaining excursion into the ever-changing nature of the complex and captivating English language. If language is a glorious garden, filled with exotic hybrids as well as traditional heritage specimens, then weeds will also thrive on its fertile grounds. Linguistic weeds may be defined as pronunciations or constructions that are no longer used. For example, Burridge points out how aint or double negatives were at one time quite acceptable in everyday speaking and writing but are now classified as weeds that should no longer have a place in our vocabulary. And, as she so deftly accomplished in Blooming Elã»