Customer Reviews

How We Talk: American Regional English Today

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This is a wonderful book. I picked it up and couldn't put it down. A perfect gift for anyone on your holiday list -- in great short essays Metcalf brings us back to the speech of the people we grew up with. Whether your grandmother cooked dropped-eggs, or picked up her groceries in a paper sack you'll love this book! A must read.

How We Talk surveys American regional English, examining local sayings and figures of speech and moving across the country to access both statewide and regional quirks of language. Any studying regional language will find it an appealing, educational examination of modern regional oddities.

If you were thumbing through the American English section of your bookstore, this would not be the book you would take home. Research is what distinguishes the books in this category, and this one has only shallow, and sometimes incorrect, insights to offer. A much better book on the same topic is "How To Talk American" by Jim Crotty. Example: there are 15 pages on New York City vocabulary and pronunciation in "How To Talk AMerican", only 3 in this book. "How To Talk" is more articulate, and serves up such accurate items as Losaida and DUMBO and NoLIta that is lacking in "How We Talk". There are inaccuracies in How We Talk that I found distracting, and the contrast in value between the books is instructive. If you are interested in this topic, "How To Talk American" is accurate, well-researched and well-articulated, and "How We Talk" will let you down. Also, Bill Bryson has written a couple of books on this general topic, and they are all good reads.