A Common Reader . . .

Grammar-rage

Giles Coren's letter to the sub-editors at the Times has become a notorious example of "grammar rage".  Let's face it, is must be infuriating when you think that your hand-crafted phrase has been ruined by a  sub-editor. 

This hilarious video imagines the scene when the editor confronts the subs over their lapse.  My thanks to sonofabook for this link

Review: The Prodigal Tongue - Mark Abley

In The Prodigal Tongue, Mark Abley has provided us with a tour of the state of the English language in Britain and around the world.  His main conclusion seems to be that although "English" is the new Esperanto, a world language spoken by people on every continent, its not so much standard English that predominates so much as "Englishes".  These are widely varying tongues, with a core of what we know as English, but much adapted to local circumstances, infiltrated by words from many other languages, and not even retaining the original meanings of a large number of words.  Speakers of Western English may be very surprised to find how little they understand when they converse with an "English speaker" in say Japan, Malaya or the Philippines.

Abley points out that English is immensely adaptable.  It continually absorbs new words, transmutes the meaning of existing words and moreover, other countries use it to fill the gaps in their own languages.  The Finnish do not have a word for "please" but now use ours, and have dropped their own word (anteeksi) in favour of "sorry".  Slovakian teenager boys address their girl-friends as beib (babe) or hany (honey).  The Austrian magazine "News" headlines "Das Grosse Interview" and Austrian cellphones offer "Downloaden".  Numerous similar examples are quoted and it is difficult to see how any language purist of another tongue can suggest any way in which this "Englishisation" can be stopped.  We are going to find English all over the world, particularly in the worlds of business, entertainment or technology.

Review: By Hook or by Crook - David Crystal

With By Hook or By CrookDavid Crystal has provided us with an entertaining travelogue of selected part of (mostly) England and Wales. The reader accompanies Crystal as he meanders around various small towns (Haye on Wye, Stratford on Avon etc), finding many interesting places along the way and recounting many tales and anecdotes about place names and other linguistic curiosities. Crystal makes an amusing travel companion, perhaps with similarities to Michael Palin or Richard Bryson, and one gets the impression of a man with a fund of stories who would be a useful talking guide-book on any possible journey around Britain.