The Stories of English

Oct 4, 2024 9:26 AM

Author:David Crystal

When and why did 'thou' disappear from Standard English? Would a Victorian Cockney have said 'observation' or 'hobservation'? Was Jane Austen making a mistake when she wrote 'Jenny and James are walked to Charmonth this afternoon'?

This superbly well-informed - and also wonderfully entertaining - history of the English language answers all these questions, showing how the many strands of English (Standard English, dialect and slang among them) developed to create the richly-varied language of today.

Reviews

... many giggle-making boo-boos.

—— Spectator

... a delicious concoction of mangled English taken from dodgy menus, hotel signs and well-meaning (but sadly misguided) tourist attractions.

—— Wanderlust

Moving, delightful, even inspiring

—— Edinburgh Review

It is not the kind of dry academic tome so cherished by linguistic nitpickers, but a bright, radical examination of the language which is at the heart of our existence

—— Aberdeen Press and Journal

A fresh and invigorating overview of a fascinating subject

—— Stirling Observer

Well written . . . provocative

—— The New York Times

Attuned to pop culture as well as to scholarship, Abley proves a deft social anthropologist

—— The Daily Telegraph

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