The English language is a battlefield. Since the age of Shakespeare, arguments over correct usage have been acrimonious, and those involved have always really been contesting values - to do with morality, politics and class. THE LANGUAGE WARS examines the present state of the conflict, its history and its future. Above all, it uses the past as a way of illuminating the present. Moving chronologically, the book explores the most persistent issues to do with English and unpacks the history of 'proper' usage. Where did these ideas spring from? Which of today's bugbears and annoyances are actually venerable? Who has been on the front line in the language wars? THE LANGUAGE WARS examines grammar rules, regional accents, swearing, spelling, dictionaries, political correctness, and the role of electronic media in reshaping language. It also takes a look at such niggling concerns as the split infinitive, elocution and text messaging. Peopled with intriguing characters such as Jonathan Swift, H. W. Fowler and George Orwell as well as the more disparate figures of Lewis Carroll, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Lenny Bruce, THE LANGUAGE WARS is an essential volume for anyone interested in the state of the English language today or intrigued about its future.
The Language Wars: A History of Proper English
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'[Hitchings] writes beautiful prose, witty and succinct. His book is full of complex ideas expressed with crystal clarity ... The range of his knowledge and curiosity is remarkable ... Every paragraph contains a fascinating detail about the English language ... I recommend that you rush out to immediately buy it, or to buy it immediately, whichever you prefer.' -- Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday, Five Star Review 20110130 'This richly detailed and often delightfully combative book is a historical guide to the sometimes splenetic battles that have been fought over [English] down the centuries ... a pleasure to read.' -- Andrew Holgate, Sunday Times 20110130 'Crisply written, amusing, informative and thought-provoking. Anyone interested in the English language and its history should read it.' -- Charles Moore, The Telegraph 20110130 'Hitchings' exemplary researches and disinterested, perceptive and often witty explications, make it clear that one cannot glibly dismiss these struggles over what makes English "proper" ... Hitchings has created a fascinating, wholly readable and gratifyingly informative book.' -- Financial Times 20110130 'The Language Wars asks us to think beyond tradition, habit and deference, and to consider what we want from our words. It is a very intelligent and polite call to arms, but a call to arms nonetheless' -- Observer 20110130 'The Language Wars takes the reader on a Cook's tour of complaints about English past and present ...' -- Deborah Cameron, Guardian 20110130 'It is a breath of fresh air (if that is the right cliche) to wander the byways of language without always being nudged to laugh at prescriptivists' foolish nostrums.' -- Daily Telegraph 20110130 'A superb survey' -- Reader's Digest 20110130 'An extraordinary amount of reading has clearly gone in to the Language Wars' -- Guardian 20110130 'Erudite but eminently readable' -- Independent on Sunday 20110130 '...if you like the English language as it develops and changes - this is a book you'll love. Hitchings unpicks arguments with terrific flair...He makes us think about language - what it is, what it does, where's been. There's a great bit on the modern use of "like". It's like, wow' -- Evening Stardard 20110130 'Playful and learned' -- Independent 20110130 'Richly detailed, delightfully combative...such a pleasure to read' -- Sunday Times 20110130
About the Author
Henry Hitchings was born in 1974. He has contributed to many newspapers and magazines and is theatre critic for the Evening Standard.
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Amazon.com:
3.7 out of 5 stars
13 reviews
46 of 47 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
I am a language nut - I LOVED THIS BOOK.
Nov 23 2011
By MED
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
The local bookstore had this book displayed front and center surrounded by dictionaries. I bought it, went home and read it in one sitting. I have since reread entire passages two and three times. Like Hitchings I wince when people use improper grammatical construction or interchange words incorrectly. I am often stunned by work product I receive from employees who have no ability to concisely convey their thoughts, much less convey them in complete sentences with proper use of adjectives and adverbs. The increasing use of `text speak' and truncated twitter messages do not bode well for our ongoing treatment of language.
Hitchings has a descriptivist view that languages evolve over time. This is in direct contrast to the prescriptivist view that there is one right way to speak and write. He cites historical references for why some things are improper, i.e., ending a sentence with a preposition or the use of contractions in speech and writing. Additionally he peppers his book with anecdotal stories of individuals who disliked a particular word or its use in certain situations. He has a compelling argument for clear expression that political correctness sometimes obscures. He talks with passion about the identity a language gives a nation.
This is not likely a book that will appeal to a wide audience. If you enjoy the minutiae of language and its history, this is a book for you.
Hitchings has a descriptivist view that languages evolve over time. This is in direct contrast to the prescriptivist view that there is one right way to speak and write. He cites historical references for why some things are improper, i.e., ending a sentence with a preposition or the use of contractions in speech and writing. Additionally he peppers his book with anecdotal stories of individuals who disliked a particular word or its use in certain situations. He has a compelling argument for clear expression that political correctness sometimes obscures. He talks with passion about the identity a language gives a nation.
This is not likely a book that will appeal to a wide audience. If you enjoy the minutiae of language and its history, this is a book for you.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wished it were longer
Feb 7 2012
By Henry R. Rupp
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
As an erstwhile college English teacher and part-time copy editor, I found this book fascinating and felt sorry it had to end so soon. Some readers were offended by the extended discussion of foul language, but to omit this topic would have been dishonest--just listen to what is going on around you. Like one reviewer, I was a bit taken back by the historical gaffe regarding the French and Indian Wars, but perhaps Hitchings was taking a more continental view of the war. Also, I found it difficult to equate the conquests of Ghengis Khan with genocide; that was the way they fought then--surrender and you live, resist and you die, and he was very egalitarian in dealing out death. Coming from a person who is so sensitive to the meaning of words, this definition was a stunner.
I wish that he had written more about the debilitating effects of PowerPoint on writing and its potential for numbing an audience. Having a presenter read the slides in a PowerPoint presentation must rate high on the cruel-and-unusual punishment scale. However, this topic may not rate high on his list of linguistic sins.
The great thing about this book, in addition to the information it provides, is its sense of humor. Sorry about that moralistic people, but there are funny asides throughout the book that keep this from being a dry as dust historic tome about language and serve as great ways of making a point.
Perhaps it might have been better to have as a subtitle "A History of Proper and not so Proper English." That might have served as a warning flag to those with delicate sensitivities.
All in all, a book that makes me want to search out Hitchings' other books. As Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living."
I wish that he had written more about the debilitating effects of PowerPoint on writing and its potential for numbing an audience. Having a presenter read the slides in a PowerPoint presentation must rate high on the cruel-and-unusual punishment scale. However, this topic may not rate high on his list of linguistic sins.
The great thing about this book, in addition to the information it provides, is its sense of humor. Sorry about that moralistic people, but there are funny asides throughout the book that keep this from being a dry as dust historic tome about language and serve as great ways of making a point.
Perhaps it might have been better to have as a subtitle "A History of Proper and not so Proper English." That might have served as a warning flag to those with delicate sensitivities.
All in all, a book that makes me want to search out Hitchings' other books. As Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living."
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Informative, entertaining survey of the battle over "correct" English
May 8 2012
By Christopher Barat
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
Hitchings, previously the author of a fine book on the history of Samuel Johnson's famous DICTIONARY, here traces the "history of proper English" in a highly anecdotal, but equally enjoyable, volume. Cultural declinists who are convinced that our society is becoming ever more illiterate thanks to slipshod education and the growing dominance of electronic media will perhaps be heartened -- though only a bit, I would imagine -- to learn that writers, readers, and thinkers have been worrying over the state of the English language for many hundreds of years. Despite numerous attempts -- some well-mounted, some far-fetched -- to encase English grammar, spelling, and rules of usage in some sort of rigorously defined and maintained carapace of regular rules, the language and its structure have continued to mutate, and this process is likely to continue into the foreseeable future. Hitchings' goal is to describe "how we got here," and this he does quite admirably.
Hopkins mediates the eternal argument between descriptivists (those grammarians who merely want to describe the language as it is actually used) and prescriptivists (those who seek to discover the rules that the language should follow) in a fair manner. Though perhaps leaning a bit towards the descriptivist side, he provides an even-handed treatment of the innumerable grammars, spellers, dictionaries, style guides, and other devices that writers have used to beat English's idiosyncrasies into something resembling a manageable form. The names and dates flash by so quickly that it is very easy to get lost, especially when no facsimile pages or similar visual materials are provided to illustrate the tomes being described. The book's reassuringly chronological approach also breaks down near the end, as Hitchings diverges into discussions of profanity, politically correct speech, irritating phrases, and the potential (mis) use of the language for propaganda purposes. Any language buff or avid reader, however, will find much in this book on which to reflect and ponder.
Hopkins mediates the eternal argument between descriptivists (those grammarians who merely want to describe the language as it is actually used) and prescriptivists (those who seek to discover the rules that the language should follow) in a fair manner. Though perhaps leaning a bit towards the descriptivist side, he provides an even-handed treatment of the innumerable grammars, spellers, dictionaries, style guides, and other devices that writers have used to beat English's idiosyncrasies into something resembling a manageable form. The names and dates flash by so quickly that it is very easy to get lost, especially when no facsimile pages or similar visual materials are provided to illustrate the tomes being described. The book's reassuringly chronological approach also breaks down near the end, as Hitchings diverges into discussions of profanity, politically correct speech, irritating phrases, and the potential (mis) use of the language for propaganda purposes. Any language buff or avid reader, however, will find much in this book on which to reflect and ponder.
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3.7 out of 5 stars
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