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81 reviews for:
The Prodigal Tongue: The Love-Hate Relationship Between British and American English
Lynne Murphy
3.95 AVERAGE
81 reviews for:
The Prodigal Tongue: The Love-Hate Relationship Between British and American English
Lynne Murphy
3.95 AVERAGE
i thoroughly enjoyed this book, underlined practically every page and will love to read it again at some point in the future. I learnt a lot about what brings American and British English together - and apart- and I learnt a lot of fallacies that exist concerning the language. It made me laugh a lot and it made me wonder! It is also written in a very nonchalant style, so even if you aren't a linguist, it will not feel like a dry read at all. It even comes with quizzes at the end!
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
Delightful read for any Anglophiles and/or people living in households where two distinct Englishes are spoken. The chapter discussing the way British English uses “please” and how cringey it feels for American English speakers is especially relevant to my life — I have never felt so seen. Linguistics is (are?) so fun.
Well, Lynne Murphy doesn't need me to tell her how brilliant this book is. Her resume (cv) speaks for itself. Unlike many others, though, who aim for humour at the cost of the truth (sorry Bill Bryson, love you, bought all your books anyway), this book really spells out how ridiculous all our myths about the differences between American and British English are. There's so much information here that like Kate Morton's Watching the English, I'll be dipping into this book for years.
A little dry in places, so I found it difficult to get through (and was distracted at one point by another book which I read instead, half way through this one). I also missed a lot of the promised humour.
None-the-less, this is a good exploration of the British and American languages.
None-the-less, this is a good exploration of the British and American languages.
I've been a long-time reader of the authors blog (separated by a common language) and so I wasn't disappointed by the book. It explains the differences and similarities between the two Englishes, grouping them in different main themes. It is full of information and even manages to squeeze in some nice dry humo(u)r.
informative
medium-paced
informative
medium-paced
Some interesting tidbits here, most of which would be obvious to anyone who's spent time speaking English outside of their own environment. I say this because it's a surprisingly shallow book. Murphy doesn't delve into the nuances of linguistics and much of this read like a compendium of differences more than anything else. She's also quite snarky (and yes, I know how this word is cultural and context specific) towards the UK, in a way that doesn't add to her argument.
A fun book for me because I enjoy reading about linguistics. Nonetheless, as the author points out at the end, there’s nothing here to get especially worked up about. We certainly face bigger problems.