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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
67 of 70 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Word-Nerds come find your fodder.,
This review is from: The American Language (Hardcover)
We all knew Mencken was a master of wit, but little did we know that his mastery of words could also be introspective to the language itself. As a linguistics major, I found this tome extremely interesting. If you want meticulous detail on the historyu and the divergence from the British English, snap this book up. If you're still not satisfied, hunt around for the appedices he wrote later in his life.
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Indispensable for Language Lovers,
By Kenneth J. Atchity "Story Merchant" (Dappertutto) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The American Language (Hardcover)
Whether you're wondering about given names or surnames,place names or euphemisms--or just the ageold rivalry between British and American English and your love of the language they sometimes share--this is a must-have reference book for professional storytellers by one of the greatest wits in either tradition.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful, enjoyable read.,
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This review is from: The American Language (Hardcover)
We use American English to write. We use American English to speak. American English is the means by which half the world population communicates with each other. So why not spend a little time understanding how the American language came into being. How American English was scorned by England for so many years (and still to this day), and how American English eventually overpowered British English. After reading this book, and then stepping back to see the flow of history, you will surely discover the power of culture and its influence upon language, and visa versa. I think this is a must read for anyone who wishes to become a craftsman in the field of writing.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
The first American colonist had perforce to invent Americanisms, if only to describe the unfamiliar landscape and weather, flora and fauna confronting them. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
oral errors, college slang, grammatical niceties, vulgar speech, good usage, linguistic atlas, perfect participle, secondary accent, tall talk Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, United States, Dialect Notes, Oxford Dictionary, New England, Eighteenth Century, American English, Civil War, American Mercury, Louise Pound, Noah Webster, Webster's New International, Allen Walker Read, World War, George Philip Krapp, London Times, Seventeenth Century, Mark Twain, Congressional Record, Nineteenth Century, Modern Language Association, New Orleans, Great Britain, San Francisco, Concise Oxford New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
The first American colonist had perforce to invent Americanisms, if only to describe the unfamiliar landscape and weather, flora and fauna confronting them. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
oral errors, college slang, grammatical niceties, vulgar speech, good usage, linguistic atlas, perfect participle, secondary accent, tall talk Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, United States, Dialect Notes, Oxford Dictionary, New England, Eighteenth Century, American English, Civil War, American Mercury, Louise Pound, Noah Webster, Webster's New International, Allen Walker Read, World War, George Philip Krapp, London Times, Seventeenth Century, Mark Twain, Congressional Record, Nineteenth Century, Modern Language Association, New Orleans, Great Britain, San Francisco, Concise Oxford New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 89
books:
See all 89 books this book cites
100
books
cite this book:
See all 100 books citing this book
- English Language in America by George Philip Krapp on 17 pages
- The King's English (Oxford Language Classics) by H. W. Fowler on 7 pages
- Oxford Fowler's Modern English Usage Dictionary by H. W. Fowler on 7 pages
- Dictionary of American English (Simon & Schuster gem) by Webster on 5 pages
- The Pronunciation of English by Daniel Jones on 4 pages
See all 89 books this book cites
- Thirty-five Years of Newspaper Work: A Memoir by H. L. Mencken (Maryland Paperback Bookshelf) by H. L. Mencken on 5 pages
- The Writer's Art by James J. Kilpatrick on 4 pages
- The Development of Standard English, 1300-1800: Theories, Descriptions, Conflicts (Studies in English Language) by Laura Wright on page 76, page 91, and page 193
- Nigger - The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word by Randall Kennedy in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Bad Language: Are Some Words Better than Others? by Edwin L. Battistella in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
See all 100 books citing this book
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