Word on the Street: Debunking the Myth of "Pure" Standard English Review

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Word on the Street: Debunking the Myth of "Pure" Standard English ReviewThis is a great book I wish to recommend to all grammar Nazis. It's going to ruin my copyediting, but it's really turning my head around about English and languages in general.
Essentially, McWhorter goes and beats the ... out of grammarians from the perspective of a linguist. Apparently linguists, who deal with language as it is spoken and written by humans, cannot stand grammarians, who are, to use this book's phrase, ``obscure martinets.''
No little synopsis here can do the book justice. McWhorter has three main discussions, which are great fun. In the first, he talks about the feminist problem -- can we use ``they'' as a singular pronoun? In the second, he argues quite convincingly that it's about time we started translating Shakespeare into a language modern humans speak. And in the third, he discusses Black English, and how it qualifies as a legitimate dialect, every bit as subtle, nuanced, and important as so-called standard English.
But never mind all that. Everyone who plays with language for fun should read the book for this paragraph:
``For example, William F. Buckley is a prime example of someone who is articulate in standard English. Although many of us might bemoan the frigid paleoconservatism of his utterances themselves, there is no denying his enviable agility in wielding vocabulary, syntax, and allusion for all they're worth.''
Paleoconservatism -- now that right there is a great addition to English.Word on the Street: Debunking the Myth of "Pure" Standard English OverviewThough there is a contingent of linguists who fight the fact, our language is always changing--not only through slang, but sound, syntax, and words' meanings as well. Debunking the myth of "pure" standard English, tackling controversial positions, and eschewing politically correct arguments, linguist John McWhorter considers speech patterns and regional accents to demonstrate just how the changes do occur. Wielding reason and humor, McWhorter ultimately explains why we must embrace these changes, ultimately revealing our American English in all its variety, expressiveness, and power.

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