The English language is a battlefield. Since the age of Shakespeare, arguments over correct usage have been bitter, and have always really been about contesting values—morality, politics, and class. The Language Wars examines the present state of the conflict, its history, and its future. Above all, it uses the past as a way of illuminating the present. Moving chronologically, the book explores the most persistent issues to do with English and unpacks the history of “proper” usage. Where did these ideas spring from? Who has been on the front lines in the language wars?
The Language Wars examines grammar rules, regional accents, swearing, spelling, dictionaries, political correctness, and the role of electronic media in reshaping language. It also takes a look at such details as the split infinitive, elocution, and text messaging. Peopled with intriguing characters such as Jonathan Swift, Lewis Carroll, and Lenny Bruce, The Language Wars is an essential volume for anyone interested in the state of the English language today or its future.
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"Hitchings has prepared a turducken of language-history entrées. Consuming one layer, we discover another, and another. And we feast."---The Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Thoroughly charming…A rich history of English and the shifting rule books for its correctness…Hitchings cautions readers to take care, not in the way of the ‘grumblers, fault-finders, quibblers and mud-slingers,’ but following the example of Orwell, in using language to be clear, to be honest, to connect with each other."---The Boston Globe
"Hitchings has earned a place at the head table of contemporary linguists."---The Denver Post
"Mr. Hitchings’s trenchant prose is irresistible."---The Baltimore Sun
"Extraordinary…Chock-full of historical and literary references, The Language Wars is a fascinating, eye-opening look at the evolution of the English language."---The Huffington Post
"Crisply written, amusing, informative, and thought-provoking. Anyone interested in the English language and its history should read it."---The Sunday Telegraph (London)
About the Author
Henry Hitchings was born in 1974. He is the author of The Secret Life of Words, Who’s Afraid of Jane Austen?, and Defining the World. He has contributed to many newspapers and magazines and is the theater critic for the London Evening Standard.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
46 of 47 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The local bookstore had this book displayed front and center surrounded by dictionaries. I bought it, went home and read it in one sitting. I have since reread entire passages two and three times. Like Hitchings I wince when people use improper grammatical construction or interchange words incorrectly. I am often stunned by work product I receive from employees who have no ability to concisely convey their thoughts, much less convey them in complete sentences with proper use of adjectives and adverbs. The increasing use of `text speak' and truncated twitter messages do not bode well for our ongoing treatment of language.
Hitchings has a descriptivist view that languages evolve over time. This is in direct contrast to the prescriptivist view that there is one right way to speak and write. He cites historical references for why some things are improper, i.e., ending a sentence with a preposition or the use of contractions in speech and writing. Additionally he peppers his book with anecdotal stories of individuals who disliked a particular word or its use in certain situations. He has a compelling argument for clear expression that political correctness sometimes obscures. He talks with passion about the identity a language gives a nation.
This is not likely a book that will appeal to a wide audience. If you enjoy the minutiae of language and its history, this is a book for you.
Hitchings has a descriptivist view that languages evolve over time. This is in direct contrast to the prescriptivist view that there is one right way to speak and write. He cites historical references for why some things are improper, i.e., ending a sentence with a preposition or the use of contractions in speech and writing. Additionally he peppers his book with anecdotal stories of individuals who disliked a particular word or its use in certain situations. He has a compelling argument for clear expression that political correctness sometimes obscures. He talks with passion about the identity a language gives a nation.
This is not likely a book that will appeal to a wide audience. If you enjoy the minutiae of language and its history, this is a book for you.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As an erstwhile college English teacher and part-time copy editor, I found this book fascinating and felt sorry it had to end so soon. Some readers were offended by the extended discussion of foul language, but to omit this topic would have been dishonest--just listen to what is going on around you. Like one reviewer, I was a bit taken back by the historical gaffe regarding the French and Indian Wars, but perhaps Hitchings was taking a more continental view of the war. Also, I found it difficult to equate the conquests of Ghengis Khan with genocide; that was the way they fought then--surrender and you live, resist and you die, and he was very egalitarian in dealing out death. Coming from a person who is so sensitive to the meaning of words, this definition was a stunner.
I wish that he had written more about the debilitating effects of PowerPoint on writing and its potential for numbing an audience. Having a presenter read the slides in a PowerPoint presentation must rate high on the cruel-and-unusual punishment scale. However, this topic may not rate high on his list of linguistic sins.
The great thing about this book, in addition to the information it provides, is its sense of humor. Sorry about that moralistic people, but there are funny asides throughout the book that keep this from being a dry as dust historic tome about language and serve as great ways of making a point.
Perhaps it might have been better to have as a subtitle "A History of Proper and not so Proper English." That might have served as a warning flag to those with delicate sensitivities.
All in all, a book that makes me want to search out Hitchings' other books. As Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living."
I wish that he had written more about the debilitating effects of PowerPoint on writing and its potential for numbing an audience. Having a presenter read the slides in a PowerPoint presentation must rate high on the cruel-and-unusual punishment scale. However, this topic may not rate high on his list of linguistic sins.
The great thing about this book, in addition to the information it provides, is its sense of humor. Sorry about that moralistic people, but there are funny asides throughout the book that keep this from being a dry as dust historic tome about language and serve as great ways of making a point.
Perhaps it might have been better to have as a subtitle "A History of Proper and not so Proper English." That might have served as a warning flag to those with delicate sensitivities.
All in all, a book that makes me want to search out Hitchings' other books. As Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living."
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Informative, entertaining survey of the battle over "correct" English
May 8, 2012
Format:Hardcover
Hitchings, previously the author of a fine book on the history of Samuel Johnson's famous DICTIONARY, here traces the "history of proper English" in a highly anecdotal, but equally enjoyable, volume. Cultural declinists who are convinced that our society is becoming ever more illiterate thanks to slipshod education and the growing dominance of electronic media will perhaps be heartened -- though only a bit, I would imagine -- to learn that writers, readers, and thinkers have been worrying over the state of the English language for many hundreds of years. Despite numerous attempts -- some well-mounted, some far-fetched -- to encase English grammar, spelling, and rules of usage in some sort of rigorously defined and maintained carapace of regular rules, the language and its structure have continued to mutate, and this process is likely to continue into the foreseeable future. Hitchings' goal is to describe "how we got here," and this he does quite admirably.
Hopkins mediates the eternal argument between descriptivists (those grammarians who merely want to describe the language as it is actually used) and prescriptivists (those who seek to discover the rules that the language should follow) in a fair manner. Though perhaps leaning a bit towards the descriptivist side, he provides an even-handed treatment of the innumerable grammars, spellers, dictionaries, style guides, and other devices that writers have used to beat English's idiosyncrasies into something resembling a manageable form. The names and dates flash by so quickly that it is very easy to get lost, especially when no facsimile pages or similar visual materials are provided to illustrate the tomes being described.... Read more ›
Hopkins mediates the eternal argument between descriptivists (those grammarians who merely want to describe the language as it is actually used) and prescriptivists (those who seek to discover the rules that the language should follow) in a fair manner. Though perhaps leaning a bit towards the descriptivist side, he provides an even-handed treatment of the innumerable grammars, spellers, dictionaries, style guides, and other devices that writers have used to beat English's idiosyncrasies into something resembling a manageable form. The names and dates flash by so quickly that it is very easy to get lost, especially when no facsimile pages or similar visual materials are provided to illustrate the tomes being described.... Read more ›
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
As author Henry Hitchings notes in the opening of "The Language Wars," those whose first language is English frequently argue and debate about how to use the language properly in both the spoken and written forms.
The English language now has a long and storied history stretching back several centuries. Hitchings traces that history, including some of the contributions of authors such as Chaucer and Shakespeare, in this superb volume. He discusses how the language changed across those long stretches of time and looks at the standardization process that took place. Also discussed are how English changed with social change and lists some of the values in the core English-speaking countries that helped shape the language.
We have all been in debates about spelling, pronunciation, and punctuation--Hitchings examines these usage topics and also touches on the topics of the split infinitive, slang, censorship, profanity, and more. The author also discusses dialects--an area of language that interests just about everyone and ends up sparking many friendly debates, as I learned when I moved from Michigan to Texas in the seventh grade.
Near the end of the volume Hitchings looks at the spread of English around the world, notes the effect that current technology has on language, and even offers a couple of predictions on what may happen in English in the future. Any English speaker with a keen interest in language would enjoy "The Language Wars."
The English language now has a long and storied history stretching back several centuries. Hitchings traces that history, including some of the contributions of authors such as Chaucer and Shakespeare, in this superb volume. He discusses how the language changed across those long stretches of time and looks at the standardization process that took place. Also discussed are how English changed with social change and lists some of the values in the core English-speaking countries that helped shape the language.
We have all been in debates about spelling, pronunciation, and punctuation--Hitchings examines these usage topics and also touches on the topics of the split infinitive, slang, censorship, profanity, and more. The author also discusses dialects--an area of language that interests just about everyone and ends up sparking many friendly debates, as I learned when I moved from Michigan to Texas in the seventh grade.
Near the end of the volume Hitchings looks at the spread of English around the world, notes the effect that current technology has on language, and even offers a couple of predictions on what may happen in English in the future. Any English speaker with a keen interest in language would enjoy "The Language Wars."
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
good and pleasurable read
The first, I would say, 60% of the book on development and history of the English language is a very enjoyable read. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Reza Mostofi
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good Academic Resouce
Just the type of book I was looking for, and it will be used as a gift for a friend.
Published 2 months ago by N. Brown-McKinney
2.0 out of 5 stars
Fact check please
I'm reading this book, but I got stymied at the chapter about America because the author has the Native Americans fighting with the British against their colonists in the 7 years... Read more
Published 5 months ago by KAMV9
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another Great Book about The English Language
Hitchings does a monumental job in research and thoroughness on the history of the English language comparable to The Secret Life of Words. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Elvin Ortiz
1.0 out of 5 stars
The Language Wars, by Henry Hitchings
I anticipated a book that had a little more imagination to it than this. While it does point out the history of spelling, or non-spelling if you will, for example, it tends to... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Charles J. Kolker Jr.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Get with the programme
I'm only a few chapters into the book and I've already learned some interesting things. The author is British so you'll see some British spellings and expressions. Read more
Published 17 months ago by jimtherunner
1.0 out of 5 stars
Had to Return this Book
Chapter 12 was the show stopper for me. I saw no useful reason profanity had to be handled the way this author choose to explore it. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Cowboy Ron
4.0 out of 5 stars
Stones for the City
Henry Hitchings writes well and thoughtfully on the English language in this excellent book. It is not without isolated flaws, its ideas flow in diverse channels, it is not... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Christian Schlect
4.0 out of 5 stars
For Wordsmiths
From the little I've read so far, this is an intense book that is almost a train-of-thought commentary on English. Read more
Published 18 months ago by B. Zimmer
