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The Mother Tongue - English And How It Got That Way Paperback – October 23, 2001

by Bill Bryson (Author)

625 customer reviews

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With dazzling wit and astonishing insight, Bill Bryson—the acclaimed author of The Lost Continent—brilliantly explores the remarkable history, eccentricities, resilience and sheer fun of the English language. From the first descent of the larynx into the throat (why you can talk but your dog can't), to the fine lost art of swearing, Bryson tells the fascinating, often uproarious story of an inadequate, second-rate tongue of peasants that developed into one of the world's largest growth industries.

The Mother Tongue - English And How It Got That Way

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Who would have thought that a book about English would be so entertaining? Certainly not this grammar-allergic reviewer, but The Mother Tongue pulls it off admirably. Bill Bryson--a zealot--is the right man for the job. Who else could rhapsodize about "the colorless murmur of the schwa" with a straight face? It is his unflagging enthusiasm, seeping from between every sentence, that carries the book.

Bryson displays an encyclopedic knowledge of his topic, and this inevitably encourages a light tone; the more you know about a subject, the more absurd it becomes. No jokes are necessary, the facts do well enough by themselves, and Bryson supplies tens per page. As well as tossing off gems of fractured English (from a Japanese eraser: "This product will self-destruct in Mother Earth."), Bryson frequently takes time to compare the idiosyncratic tongue with other languages. Not only does this give a laugh (one word: Welsh), and always shed considerable light, it also makes the reader feel fortunate to speak English.

From Publishers Weekly

Bryson's blend of linguistic anecdotes and Anglo-Saxon cultural history proves entertaining but superficial. "While his historical review is thorough. . . he mostly reiterates conventional views about English's structural superiority," said PW. "He retells old tales with fresh verve . . . but becomes sloppy when matters of rhetoric and grammar arise."
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product details

Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; Reissue edition (1990)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0380715430
ISBN-13: 978-0380715435
Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.7 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (625 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,798 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #6 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Linguistics
- #60 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Essays
- #81 in Books > Reference > Words, Language & Grammar

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Top Customer Reviews

Not up to Bryson's standard

ByJGMon January 1, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I am a big Bill Bryson fan, I often say that the guy can write about anything and make it interesting. This book is an exception to that rule.

Although Amazon lists a 2015 publication date for the Kindle edition, this is clearly a much older book (most of the references and examples seem to be no more recent than the mid-80s) and seems to be one of Bryson's earliest publications. It lacks his usual superior scholarship combined with wit and clarity. I am not a linguistic expert as some reviewers here, but even I can detect that a lot of this is oversimplified, apocryphal, or simply wrong. Much of the book follows a pattern of making a statement about some foible of English followed by a long (often repetitive) list of examples. This does not really add up to either enlightenment or entertainment.

It would be a good subject for Bryson to revisit with a more rigorous and accurate approach.

11 comment 13 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Extraordinarily full of entertaining and amazing data

ByRandy Mackon September 22, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Hilarious and incredibly rich in the conundrums, peculiarities, and wealth contained in the English language. I kept interrupting my wife in her reading to share some of the fun tidbits. E.g. Did you know that the word 'set' is a polysemic champion with 58 uses as a noun,126 as a verb, and 10 as a participial adjective requiring 60,000 words in the OED to discuss them all? And although English as a Germanic language and Germans are the second most numerous immigrants after the English, there are very very few words in English derived from German, perhaps fewer than even from Inuit. This kind of thing goes on and on, like.. well, the English language itself.

0Comment 14 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

This book is full of fun facts about English but also really does examine the ...

ByEricon April 24, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I was in a debate with my wife's 92 year old grandfather about how silly English is as a language and that for non native speakers it is one of the hardest languages to learn. He, being a man who speaks many languages and was in the foreign service, said I was crazy. The next day a visitor to the house mentioned this very book when she heard about our disagreement.

I immediately purchased it and haven't regretted it once. This book is full of fun facts about English but also really does examine the ridiculous nature of the language from a linguistics point of view. That last part is surprising because he is not in fact a linguist!

It is light hearted fun but you will learn many things that you can impress your friends, or 92 year old grandfathers.

0Comment 4 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Want to laugh (AND learn)?

ByBoston womanon August 22, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

"Any language in which the unassuming word "fly" can refer to a means of transportation, an annoying insect, or a critical part of a gentleman's wardrobe, is clearly asking to be mangled"...or words to that effect. This (semi) quote pretty much sums up how wonderful this book is. Just contemplate that sentence for a moment - doesn't it encapsulate everything that is marvelous, and dangerous, about English?

This book is not likely to be the most scholarly book ever written about the English language, but it will surely be among the most entertaining. And in the midst of being entertained, you'll likely learn a whole lot about the origins and evolution of the English language.

"The Mother Tongue" was the first Bill Bryson book I ever read. I still remember sitting in a food court at a mall, laughing myself silly. Every Bryson book since has affected me the same way. But this book is something of an anomaly: Bryson is best known for his wonderful, and hilarious, travel books. Not sure where this came from, but I'm very glad he wrote it.

I've read a number of books on the history of English, some of them no doubt better researched or more all-encompassing, but I've never read one that was more entertaining. If you have any interest in "English and how it got that way", buy this book!

0Comment 4 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Breezy and entertaining look at our language

ByAlan A. ElsnerVINE VOICEon August 24, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This breezy book, based mostly on the scholarly contributions of others, examines the English language from many different angles. There are chapters on how the language developed, on slang, on names, on the development of dictionaries and crossword puzzles, on pronunciations and spelling, what constitutes good English and what constitutes bad , on the way foreigners speak English, on swearing and puns -- you name it,. It is very comprehensive and very entertaining. Bryson is a skilled story-teller and has obviously read widely and studied hard. One can learn here that the word "deer" once meant all animals (from the German Tier), that sweetheart was once "sweetard" (as in dullard and dotard), that the word "boondocks" comes from the Tagalog language of the Philippines; that canal and channel were once the same word; that sordid and swarthy come from the same Latin word meaning to be soiled or dirty -- and much more.

My one criticism (which really isn't a criticism) is that the book is a bit dated. It appeared in the early 1990s before we really entered the Internet age and most of the examples comes from the 1980s and earlier. Obviously, everything in the book remains valid -- but the language has developed by leaps and bounds since then. We now communicate through texting, tweets and emoticons. I think there is a good case for this book to be updated.

0Comment 9 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

The cover doesn't tell the whole story

ByShirley Y. Thomason May 10, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

From the cover art you might expect this to be a light, airy read. It isn't. Mr. Bryson does write crisp clean copy and he does it with a sometimes amusing touch. But make no mistake. This is a scholarly book about how humans may have first learned to communicate with words, and how, in the millennia since, that language has evolved. I was mentally engaged and excited by Mr. Bryson's knowledge of the topic. I was informed and entertained in equal proportion.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Entertaining and informative

ByMark from Haifaon May 13, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I learned a lot about the English language from reading this book, even though I had already read other books on the subject. I recommend it even though it is somewhat out of date, having been written about 30 years ago. Also, I get the impression that the author is not a scholar of the field, but rather has done an excellent job of presenting the work of others in a most accessible and entertaining manner.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

Five Stars

such a great read. informative and interesting.

Published 2 days ago by Chris Sebilia

Five Stars

I love Bill Bryson! The seller was very helpful. I would buy from them again. Thanks!

Published 6 days ago by Diane Clinton Sota

Five Stars

Great audio book.

Published 12 days ago by Thomas K.

A great addition to my library.

Bill Bryson ROCKS! I love his take on all things British. A great addition to my library.

Published 14 days ago by Reiki Ree

Good reading

Great book, funny, erudite,, a joy to read. Sorry written in eighties, as would love to read his ideas on modern English.

Published 16 days ago by Laura

Interesting and amusing

I loved the writing and the vocabulary. It had historical facts, anecdotes, quotes. All beautifully tied together.Read more

Published 21 days ago by hitchingpostfarm

Hilarious, tedious and factual!

I will never think about language in my heretofore simplistic way again! I had never analyzed how language influences us, sets the tone or denotes cultural heritage until Bryson...Read more

Published 27 days ago by gourmet girl

An Unexpected (and enjoyable) Lesson

I was hoping for something a bit lighter and more story-like, which is what I am used to from Mr. Bryson.Read more

Published 1 month ago by Hackamore

Bill Bryson Past His Sell-by Date

I've read Bill Bryson for years and enjoy his work. However, this volume from the early 90s has become dated and has a tendency to become boring with excessively long examples of...Read more

Published 1 month ago by Kindle Customer

Great fun.

A light look at the history of English. Far from scholarly and a little dated but great fun. You will never find linguistics and etymology so accessible and entertaining.

Published 1 month ago by Leon Miller

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