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Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths of Language Usage cover art

Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths of Language Usage

By: John McWhorter, The Great Courses
Narrated by: John McWhorter
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Publisher's Summary

Conventional wisdom suggests English is going to the dogs, that bad grammar, slang, and illogical constructions signal a decline in standards of usage - to say nothing of the corruption wrought by email and text messages.

But English is a complicated, marvelous language. Far from being a language in decline, English is the product of surprisingly varied linguistic forces, some of which have only recently come to light. And these forces continue to push English in exciting new directions.

These 24 eye-opening lectures dispel the cloud of confusion that clings to English, giving you a crystal-clear view of why we use it the way we do and where it fits into the diverse languages of the world. Like an archaeologist sifting through clues to a vanished civilization, you'll uncover the many features of English that sound normal to a native speaker but that linguists find puzzling and also revealing.

For example, the only languages that use "do" the way English does (as in "do not walk") are the Celtic languages such as Welsh, which were spoken by people who lived among the early English and influenced their language in many subtle ways.

You'll also delight in considering modern controversies about how English is used. For example, "Billy and me went to the store" is considered incorrect, because the subject form, "I," should be used instead of "me." But then why does "Me and Billy went to the store" sound so much more fluent than "I and Billy went to the store"?

These examples and many more represent a few of the flash points in English's long history of defying rules, a process that occurs in all languages. You'll come away from this course with every reason to be a proud, informed, and more self-aware speaker of English.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2012 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2012 The Great Courses

What listeners say about Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths of Language Usage

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Good content but can have better delivery

Would you try another book written by The Great Courses and John McWhorter or narrated by Professor John McWhorter?

No

What did you like best about this story?

Good topics covered.

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Professor John McWhorter?

Kevin Stroud

If this book were a film would you go see it?

No

Any additional comments?

The narrator had too long complex sentences where you loose track of things. He kept laughing in middle of sentences at times. Sounded very proud and conceited.

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1 person found this helpful

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I could listen to John McWhorter all day

I've never found linguistics and the history of language to be so accessible until now. John McWhorter is absolutely brilliant. His storytelling, explanations and humour is so engaging. I will listen to this again, right after I listen to his other lecture on great courses.

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