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Arika Okrent

Highly Irregular: Why Tough, Through, and Dough Don't Rhyme―And Other Oddities of the English Language 1st Edition

by Arika Okrent (Author), Sean O'Neill (Illustrator)

4.5 220 ratings

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Maybe you've been speaking English all your life, or maybe you learned it later on. But whether you use it just well enough to get your daily business done, or you're an expert with a red pen who never omits a comma or misplaces a modifier, you must have noticed that there are some things about this language that are just weird.

Perhaps you're reading a book and stop to puzzle over absurd spelling rules (Why are there so many ways to say '-gh'?), or you hear someone talking and get stuck on an expression (Why do we say "How dare you" but not "How try you"?), or your kid quizzes you on homework (Why is it "eleven and twelve" instead of "oneteen and twoteen"?). Suddenly you ask yourself, "Wait, why do we do it this way?" You think about it, try to explain it, and keep running into walls. It doesn't conform to logic. It doesn't work the way you'd expect it to. There doesn't seem to be any rule at all.

There might not be a logical explanation, but there will be an explanation, and this book is here to help.

In Highly Irregular, Arika Okrent answers these questions and many more. Along the way she tells the story of the many influences--from invading French armies to stubborn Flemish printers--that made our language the way it is today. Both an entertaining send-up of linguistic oddities and a deeply researched history of English, Highly Irregular is essential reading for anyone who has paused to wonder about our marvelous mess of a language.

ISBN-10

0197539408
ISBN-13

978-0197539408
Edition

1st
Publisher

Oxford University Press
Publication date

July 1, 2021
Language

English
Dimensions

8.3 x 1.1 x 5.6 inches
Print length

272 pages
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From the Publisher

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"In more than 40 brief, readable chapters, Okrent brings both erudition and wit to the history of English and the mechanisms of language change and all the quirky consequences ... Every language should have a book like this one." -- E. L. Battistella, CHOICE

"Okrent's book provides an all-encompassing and detailed overview of how earlier stages of the English language and language change can explain many present-day English irregularities ... Okrent brings order to the world of irregularities in the English language." -- Anke Lensch, Linguist List

"...she explains well why the language remains such a minefield for even educated native speakers, never mind those picking it up as a second or third tongue." -- Mark Broatch, NZ Listener

"I love everything about this book. Arika Okrent is insightful, funny, and answers questions you didn't even know you had!" -- Mignon Fogarty, author of Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

"Arika Okrent is the best at taking oft-repeated stories about English and pushing them a step deeper. If you buy one 'fun facts about English' book, make it this one. Lively explanations from Okrent plus charming drawings by O'Neill make for a highly engaging book perfect for answering your (or your kid's) questions about the oddities of the English language." -- Gretchen McCulloch, author of Because Internet and host of Lingthusiasm

"Don't let the joy of reading these stories fool you. Arika Okrent brings real intellectual heft to researching them. As you find yourself eagerly passing them on, you'll realize how much serious stuff about language you've learned too." -- Lane Greene, author of Talk on the Wild Side and You Are What You Speak

"Arika Okrent has done the magic trick of compiling the kinds of questions the general public actually asks about language, instead of the kinds of questions we linguists would LIKE the public to ask. Everybody―including many linguists!―will feast on every page." -- John McWhorter, Professor of Linguistics at Columbia University, host of the language podcast Lexicon Valley, and Contributing Editor at The Atlantic

"One of the most appealing features of Highly Irregular is its stock of poems and brain-teasers illustrating the language's more absurd quirks." -- Henry Hitchings, The Wall Street Journal

"The English language bristles with words whose spelling and pronunciation are at odds. Words that look as though they should rhyme do not: tough, through, dough. Words that are spelled differently sound exactly the same: so, sow, sew. Some have pronunciations that seem almost unrelated to their written forms DS could anyone confronted for the first time with colonel figure out that it’s “kernel”? In her wonderful new book, linguist Arika Okrent dives into these questions." -- Melissa Mohr, Christian Science Monitor

"The book has so many virtues it's hard to know where to start." -- Orin Hargraves, Visual Thesaurus

"[Okrent's] careful tracing of the steps that brought the language to the way it is now builds a picture of social and historical factors as much as linguistic ones. She provides a sense of order in the chaos It is a delight to see the way this unruly system quietly gets on, doing its job of allowing us to communicate. Okrent's experience in linguistic communication allows her to explain even technical concepts clearly." - Laura R. Bailey, Times Literary Supplement

"[A] learned and captivating study of how the weirdness of our language unfolded....[Okrent] wields sharp and powerful tools that satisfyingly scratch our linguaphilic itch." -- Michael M. Rosen, National Review

About the Author

Arika Okrent is a linguist and author of In the Land of Invented Languages. She worked in a brain research lab on her way to a Psycholinguistics PhD from the University of Chicago, and now writes about language for various publications including Mental Floss, The Week, Smithsonian Magazine, Popular Science, Slate, and Aeon.

Sean O'Neill is an illustrator and writer living in Chicago. He is the creator of the Rocket Robinson series of graphic novels for young readers.

Arika and Sean are also known for their series of live-drawing whiteboard videos on language and other topics, produced by mentalfloss.com.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; 1st edition (July 1, 2021)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0197539408
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0197539408
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.3 x 1.1 x 5.6 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #103,233 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #17 in Phonetics & Phonics Reference
- #72 in Study & Teaching Reference (Books)
- #74 in Linguistics Reference

Customer Reviews:
4.5 220 ratings

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4.5 out of 5

220 global ratings

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mike pierce

Book Jacket Greasy

Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2023

Verified Purchase

I ordered this book "new." The interior of the book seems brand new. However, the book jacket has greasy fingerprints on it and adhesive as if a price sticker was scraped off of it.

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Terri Crenshaw

What the hell Englush?

Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2023

Verified Purchase

This book is for any teacher of English who has ever said English is weird. It is but there's an explanation for it!

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Dressage lady

Some serious scholarship here

Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2022

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Bought it for Christmas stocking not realizing that it is actually full of real history on the language. Written with flair and humor, it is a fun read and you will truly learn a lot. Highly recommended

3 people found this helpful

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Melissa Hexter

My ESL class always asks me Why

Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2021

Verified Purchase

There are pages and pages that explain why words are so irregular in English in an easy to understand way. Sometimes we find that our words and my classes’ home language words are related. And now we all know how that came to be.

3 people found this helpful

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BrianM

Interesting and fun

Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2022

Verified Purchase

If you've ever wondered why spelling in English is so bizarre, this is the book for you! Very enjoyably told history of the English language and the the weird twists that affected the way it evolved.

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Nancy Kipler

Brand new, fast shipping

Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2021

Verified Purchase

Great book for any teacher.

One person found this helpful

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Andrew E. Rubin

Informative but a real slog

Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2021

Verified Purchase

Let's start with the fact that I love reading books on language and grammar. I own north of 40 of them. I listen to grammar podcasts. Don't judge.
When Mignon Fogarty lavished praise on this book, how could I resist. I wish that I had.
Is the book well researched, yes. Is it informative, yes. Is it remotely interesting or readable, not to me. Cutesy (but inane) drawings do not give it any lightness, whimsy, or humor; they are just annoying and detract from the seriousness of the writing.
I would rate it a "one" but that would imply a total lack of merit and competence and would be unfair to the information in the book.

8 people found this helpful

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John P. Boyle

An enlightening read

Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2021

Verified Purchase

This is a really wonderful book. Scholarly yet very accessible for the general reader. It really helps explain many of the quirks of English and the art work is great!

3 people found this helpful

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Ernie Sims

A++++

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 28, 2023

Verified Purchase

Awesome value for the price!
I received two new, mint condition copies, and the book is worth a read too.

Leslie Crumpton-Taylor

Read with discretion.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 21, 2021

Verified Purchase

Understand that this is a light read but not superficial. One must appreciate that the authoress is American and thus the use of "snuck" (p18), "gotten" (p21, 160 and elsewhere) and "off of" instead of "from" (p98) although jarring to British readers should be passed swiftly by. She does deal extremely well with other distinctions between English and American including the standard "honour Vs honor" problem and its origin. In that context she omits the Fleetwood Mac influence where their record "Rumours" wrecked the confidence of many young Americans in their own national version of English.
I would suggest that rather than "nonnative" which is used several times it should have been "non-native" as the first three times I internalised it as "nonna-tive" and consulted a dictionary.
There are two other bits needing adjustment. Page 15 line 3 should be "cavalry" not "calvary" and on page 120 the sentence "Printing gave more people access to the printed word than they had before" should say "written word" or some alternative.
I found myself disagreeing with the authoress on some matters. "Accept" and "Except" are NOT homophones. "Wistless" is still in use albeit rarely. "Budge" is not a negative polarity item. At this point I realised that the problem was not "correct English" Vs "American" but the age gap. There is discussion of how language evolves or develops and the historical sections forming much of the book are excellent. The problem is the most recent forty/fifty years. These changes have not bedded in and for those educated in Britain of the 1940s/1950s/1960s having received their example from teachers who were themselves late Victorians/Edwardians the new bits look and sound so wrong. Arika Okrent believes the changes to be universal but clearly not in this part of England and certainly not among my generation.

7 people found this helpful

Michael Shiner

Shoulda, woulda, coulda enjoy this book

Reviewed in Canada on June 6, 2022

Verified Purchase

All you need to do is buy it.

Great read, for the topic on hand it's an easy read, which is perfect for a non-book reader like myself. Love every chapter thus far, thanks Arika for making me enjoy reading the first book I've possibly ever purchased for leisure reading.

Robin

Childish

Reviewed in Australia on June 25, 2023

Verified Purchase

It just wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted a serious , easy to read book. This one was all over the place. Not a pleasure to read. I deleted it.

Tony Skelton

Interesting observations on the English language

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 23, 2022

Verified Purchase

Good coverage of the oddities of English language and its historic origins

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