{"product_id":"bad-english-isbn-9780399165580","title":"Bad English","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe author of \u003ci\u003eReading the OED\u003c\/i\u003e presents an eye-opening look at language “mistakes” and how they came to be accepted as correct—or not. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEnglish is a glorious mess of a language, cobbled together from a wide variety of sources and syntaxes, and changing over time with popular usage. Many of the words and usages we embrace as standard and correct today were at first considered slang, impolite, or just plain wrong.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhether you consider yourself a stickler, a nitpicker, or a rule-breaker in the know, Bad English is sure to enlighten, enrage, and perhaps even inspire. Filled with historic and contemporary examples, the book chronicles the long and entertaining history of language mistakes, and features some of our most common words and phrases, including:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDecimate\u003cbr\u003eHopefully\u003cbr\u003eEnormity\u003cbr\u003eThat\/which\u003cbr\u003eEnervate\/energize\u003cbr\u003eBemuse\/amuse\u003cbr\u003eLiterally\/figuratively\u003cbr\u003eAin’t Irregardless\u003cbr\u003eSocialist\u003cbr\u003eOMG\u003cbr\u003eStupider\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLively, surprising, funny, and delightfully readable, this is a book that will settle arguments among word lovers—and it’s sure to start a few, too.\"Language is funny, and so is Ammon Shea. His excellent new book tours our irrational prejudices about language, showing that an appreciation for the quirks and ironies of language history can put our understanding on a firmer basis and restore our sense of humor.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—David Skinner, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Story of Ain't\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"On the playground of language, there is no more mischievous laddie than Ammon Shea. I plan to use his new book to split the lip of the next insufferable language prig who saunters into my office to accuse me of bad English.\"  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Roy Peter Clark, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Glamour of Grammar\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eHow to Write Short\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“In \u003cb\u003eBad English\u003c\/b\u003e, Ammon Shea wastes no time challenging widely held beliefs about just what English is bad. His subtitle, “A History of Linguistic Aggravation,” gets in an opening jab at sticklers like me, who know that “irritate” means annoy while “aggravate” means “make worse.” Shea, having read the OED to write \u003cb\u003eReading the OED\u003c\/b\u003e, is well qualified to tell us we probably don’t know as much as we think we do.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Washington Post\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eReading the OED\u003c\/i\u003e:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Oddly inspiring...Shea has walked the wildwood of our gnarled, ancient speech and returned singing incomprehensible sounds in a language that turns out to be our own.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Nicholson Baker, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Delicious...a lively lexicon.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eO\u003c\/i\u003e, The Oprah Magazine\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Readworthy.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—William Safire, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Shea, an avid collector of words, displays an assortment for our pleasure as he wends his way through the alphabet.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eAmmon Shea\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of \u003ci\u003eReading the OED: One Man, One Year, 21,730 Pages \u003c\/i\u003ealong with \u003ci\u003eDepraved English, Insulting English, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Phone Book. \u003c\/i\u003eA dictionary collector, he has worked as a consulting editor of American dictionaries at Oxford University Press. He has also contributed to the \"On Language\" column in Sunday's \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003eand has reviewed language books for the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.","brand":"Tarcher","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46299817312485,"sku":"NP9780399165580","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780399165580_2c40ec71-577e-4dac-b4c6-d0a6e3f438dc.jpg?v=1767722104","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/bad-english-isbn-9780399165580","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}