slim_oysterhiatus 's review for:

Around the World in 80 Words: A Journey Through the English Language by Paul Anthony Jones

4.0

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This was a light and engaging popular science trip through sociohistorical linguistics. The author uses stories rather than detailed linguistic methodology to teach the history of vocabulary incorporated into the English language following colonialism, trade, travel, and globalization. Great style, witty but succinct and full of trivia. The "Around the World in 80 Days" premise kept the content balanced and organized, and although I read straight through, it would also be an easy book to dip in and out of.