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Weeds in the Garden of Words: Further Observations on the Tangled History of the English Language
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 420
EAN: 9780521618236
ISBN: 0521618231
Label: Cambridge University Press
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 206
Publication Date: June 20, 2005
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Studio: Cambridge University Press
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Editorial Review:
Kate Burridge follows the international success of Blooming English with another entertaining excursion into the ever-changing nature of the complex and captivating English language. If language is a glorious garden, filled with exotic hybrids as well as traditional heritage specimens, then weeds will also thrive on its fertile grounds. Linguistic weeds may be defined as pronunciations or constructions that are no longer used. For example, Burridge points out how "aint" or double negatives were at one time quite acceptable in everyday speaking and writing but are now classified as "weeds" that should no longer have a place in our vocabulary. And, as she so deftly accomplished in Blooming English, Burridge goes on here to further celebrate our capacity to play with language, and to examine the ways we use it: in slang and jargon, swearing, speaking the unspeakable, or concealing unpleasant or inconvenient facts. In this new volume she gives us another fun and informative work for enjoyable browsing; for discovering intriguing trivia about language, history, and social customs; and for employing as a peerless weapon in word games. Kate Burridge is the Chair of Linguistics at Monash University and a regular presenter of segments on the Australian Broadcast Company.
The English language is a glorious garden, but it also contains some weeds. Linguistic weeds may be slang expressions, non-standard pronunciations, or constructions that are out of place. But what one gardener calls a 'weed', another may call a 'flower'. The same goes for words and their usage in English. Following the international success of Blooming English, Kate Burridge provides another entertaining excursion into our complex and captivating language.'A delight to read. Only Pinker can write this engagingly about language.'Professor Charles F. Meyer, University of Massachusetts, Boston
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Rating: - Is That an Earweed in Your Garden?
In Weeds in the Garden of Words, linguist Kate Burridge compares the English language to a garden. There are some flowers that look lovely, but your neighbor, who considers herself a gardening expert, says they are weeds. Should you follow her advice and root them up? Maybe it depends on your definition of weed.
Taking a completely different approach from verbal hygienists (Burridge's phrase) such as the ever-cranky Lynne Truss (Eats, Shoots & Leaves), Burridge observes the evolution ... Read More
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