Kathrina's Reviews > Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English

Well, apparently there's a lot more to John McWhorter than that he just happens to be the guy that wrote this book. I guess once you've created a reputation as an esteemed, literate, intellectual African-American schooled in serious linguistics research, people will start throwing you in front of a camera and asking what you think about Obama and what your politics are (social conservatism). Of course I had to watch a few, and couldn't get beyond the fact that his upper lip absolutely does not move, creating a slight lisp that is kind of charming and very distracting. But see how tv makes me superficial? I want to talk about the book, which was very good.
Reading the last chapter, when you realize that all of his hypotheses are being presented here, instead of some obscure linguistics journal, available for little old laymen like me to pick up and peruse for our entertainment, the information kind of took on a holy-grail aura. Well, duh, all you fuddy-duddies, McWhorter has just made the whole linguistic field comprehensible for everyone; what are YOU doing? His writing does, at times, get a bit repetitive, and he takes some real liberties with his metaphors, maybe a bit too cute, but he sure is persuasive. If you're looking for specifics as to what McWhorter discusses, I recommend goodreads member Manny's review. (I dunno how to link him, but he comes up first)