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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Words on the Move: Why English Won't - And Can't - Sit Still (Like, Literally)

Words on the Move: Why English Won't - And Can't - Sit Still (Like, Literally)

McWhorter, John

Paperback

EtymologyGrammar & StyleLinguistics

Currently unavailable to order

ISBN10: 1250143780
ISBN13: 9781250143785
Publisher: Picador Usa
Published: Sep 12 2017
Pages: 272
Weight: 0.55
Height: 0.80 Width: 5.30 Depth: 8.20
Language: English

Language is always changing, but the way English is spoken today rubs many of us the wrong way. Whether it's the use of literally to mean figuratively, or the way young people use LOL or business jargon like What's the ask?--it often seems as if the language is deteriorating before our eyes.

But the truth is different and a lot less scary. Drawing examples from everyday life and employing a generous helping of humor, John McWhorter shows that these shifts are common to all languages, and that we should embrace these changes, not condemn them.

He opens our eyes to the surprising backstories to words and expressions we use every day. Did you know that silly once meant blessed? Or that ought was the original past tense of owe? Or that the suffix -ly in adverbs is actually a remnant of the word like?

In Words on the Move, McWhorter encourages us to marvel at the dynamism and resilience of the English language, and his book offers a delightful journey where we see that words are ever on the move and our lives are all the richer for it.

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