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    Bad English: A History of Linguistic Aggravation
    Bad English: A History of Linguistic Aggravation
    Bad English: A History of Linguistic Aggravation
    Audiobook7 hours

    Bad English: A History of Linguistic Aggravation

    Written by Ammon Shea

    Narrated by Mike Chamberlain

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    English is a glorious mess of a language, cobbled together from a wide variety of sources and syntaxes, and changing over time with popular usage. Many of the words and usages we embrace as standard and correct today were at first considered slang, impolite, or just plain wrong.

    Whether you consider yourself a stickler, a nitpicker, or a rule-breaker in the know, Bad English is sure to enlighten, enrage, and perhaps even inspire. Filled with historic and contemporary examples, the book chronicles the long and entertaining history of language mistakes, and features some of our most common words and phrases, including decimate, hopefully, enormity, that vs. which, enervate vs. energize, bemuse vs. amuse, literally vs. figuratively, ain't, irregardless, socialist, OMG, and stupider.

    Lively, funny, and surprising, this is a book that will settle arguments among word lovers-and it's sure to start a few, too.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateAug 19, 2014
    ISBN9781494574437
    Bad English: A History of Linguistic Aggravation
    Author

    Ammon Shea

    Ammon Shea is the author of two previous books on obscure words, Depraved English and Insulting English (written with Peter Novobatzky). He read his first dictionary, Merriam Webster's Second International, ten years ago, and followed it up with the sequel, Webster's Third International.

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    Reviews for Bad English

    3.5/5

    37 ratings7 reviews

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    • 3/5
      If you're a language pedant you should read this. Although chances are you already knew most of this and will not change your asshollish ways.
    • 3/5
      Nowadays one rarely finds prescriptive grammar books: Ammon Shea's book is a case in point. There are many books like this which merely lament the perceived deterioration of the language and the erosion of style, but Shea moves beyond that by suggesting what language or vocabulary should be used instead. This makes the book highly pedantic and unpalatable to many readers. Many examples seem far-fetched, and the book is of little or no practical use. Besides, Mr Shea himself is no great pageant of style: the book is often boring and repetitive.
    • 4/5
      "Bad English: A History of Linguistic Aggravation" offers a comprehensive, and often illuminating, look at the English language. Shea exams the evolution of language, covering the use and misuse of words, phrases and grammar. I was particularly interested to note that many of the words and phrases I use, were once considered to be 'bad english'. I will make an effort to show more patience when I hear misuses and mispronunciations in future. Having said that, I will continue to poke fun at the current president of the USA, and his insistence that he is the "very most smartest" and has the "very, very, highest genius IQ". Word!
    • 4/5
      Another book that examines many of our long-held rules about grammar and usage, turning the "rules" on their heads. What sets this book apart from many others I love (Mother Tongue,Woe is I, and Grammar Snobs are Great Big Meanies) is that Shea looks carefully at usage throughout the history of the word, phrase, spelling, or usage in question. He examines how "potato" has been spelled, the use of emoticons, ending sentences in prepositions, and really drills down how certain rules came to be. Rather than just saying "Well, we couldn't do that in Latin, so we don't do it in English," he examines all the history, fun stories as asides, and changes of rules and fashions. Entertaining and worth the read if you have a love of the language.
    • 3/5
      Mr. Shea takes an in-depth look at the evolution of our English language. Traveling along an easily understood timeline he looks at words and phrases that began as mistakes and misspeaks yet have now become commonplace and acceptable in both the written and spoken word. And yes, there is a difference in what is acceptable in written and in spoken English. Just to enlighten you a little, “stupider” is not a word and “OMG” is not a 21st century acronym. Language is alive and as such it evolves with the times.

      Mr. Shea does not only look at the words themselves but also at punctuation and grammar. Did you know there are seven – SEVEN – acceptable uses for an apostrophe? There are a multitude of words that began life as nouns and now are acceptable to use as verbs and adjectives. And yes, sometimes it is acceptable to split an infinitive. (Currently thumbing my nose at my grade 10 English teacher)

      Every good teacher follows a lesson with a quiz, right? Well, Mr. Shea does not deviate and offers a quiz made up of 14 quotations asking his readers to choose which are by Shakespeare and which come from the “disparate world of hi-hop/rap”. As you are muttering the phrase “piece of cake” under your breath, let me tell you, not quite as simple as it sounds.

      This book is well researched and Mr. Shea quotes his sources (endlessly).

      Irregardless (which I now KNOW is NOT a real word) and probably included as a preventative (which I now also KNOW is NOT a real word) measure to keep his readers from inadvertently making an error, the only fault I could find with this book comes at the end when Mr. Shea sites, defines and gives the appropriate reference for 221 accepted and commonly used words which were once frowned upon, some examples being: vest, upcoming, rotten, ice cream, balding, donate, fine and awful, etc (ekscetera which – I NOW KNOW – is acceptable for use in writing but never in speaking). Although this section was an interesting addition to the book it did seem to go on and on and on and on.

      So how did I, a reader of primarily fiction end up with this book on my reading list? As difficult as it may be to believe I recently found myself in a discussion about verbosity, vocabulary, vernacular, comma splices and run on sentences. A few days later I was checking my library site for their newest audio book additions and this one popped up. Coincidence? I think not! I had to give it a listen. It was entertaining and, as much as I hate to admit it, I did learn a thing or two. If you are a constant reader, a writer, a speaker, a teacher or just someone enthralled with this English language we profess to know and understand, this would be a handy reference book to keep on that little shelf close to your desk, maybe between your dictionary and your thesaurus.
    • 4/5
      Inter alia, ain't this book very something fun? Hopefully, it literally, in the figurative sense, enervates the naysayers who belittle what they feel is the stupider side of the impactful drift of language, which they feel has been decimated to aggravating levels, while presuming things have been finalized. Contact Shea if you don't think so irregardless of the enormity of what you've learned, you unique balding ingrate.
    • 3/5
      This is a lovely little book for lovers of the English language (how about that alliteration, folks?). There are awesome insights into the origins of language snafus. It's fascinating, really. I had no idea that there are people out there who are furious about the usage of "hopefully." I had no idea what "decimate" really means (though it makes total sense). And (yes, I started a sentence with "and") I will definitely think twice (did I just split an infinitive? I think I did) when I use the word "balding." I have my language pet peeves (ie, "literally," "irregardless"), but this book does not just list peeves; it explains them. This one is going on the shelf. I might whip it out at the next dinner party when I'm feeling buzzed and nerdy.