Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths of Language Usage

By: John McWhorter, The Great Courses

Narrated by: John McWhorter

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

Fascinating and brilliant

Loved this! The lecture was entertaining and insightful. Accessible and fascinating. While reading this my husband gave me Bill Bryson's Mother Tongue book, so when I was unable to listen to this lecture I would read Bryson's book which is extremely funny and as fascinating. Highly recommend it too for anyone who enjoyed this. (unfortunately not on audible). It was like having English language history on stereo.

Very interesting and fun

Prof McWhorter has an astounding breadth of knowledge not just about languages but about everything. He can put William Jennings Bryan, Zuni Indians, broccoli, and the Rolling Stones in the same sentence w English grammar and make it all sound obvious. I am not sure the title correctly captures the true scope of the book. This is a book about English, how glorious it is, how it got to be the way it is, and how we speak now compared to the way our grandparents and older generations used to.

memorable and engaging<br /><br />

Clever complex recounting of the history of
English describing how and why it is as it is today and it will be in the future. great,
thanks.

Informative & entertaining, as no other

John McWhorter has knowledge and skills unmatched by most. Usually we find brilliant people pedantic and boring. Not J Mac. He makes you say, "Hunh. Wow. Ohhh." And just laugh loudly at his unusual examples and quips. The 24 sessions zipped by so quickly. Now I want ALL of J Mac's courses!

What fun!

Mr. McWhorter is quite entertaining and very knowledgeable. I will be listening to this again as I want to remember more of it.