THE PRODIGAL TONGUE by Lynne Murphy is subtitled: “The Love-Hate
Relationship between American and British English.” And Murphy, born and raised
in New York State, but now a Professor of Linguistics at the University of
Sussex, is awesome/brilliant at describing differences and analyzing the impact
of time, environment, and social class on language. She is
very good at finding amusingly relevant quotes, too: “There is no such thing as
American English. There is English. And
there are mistakes.”
Murphy provides a series of
extensive notes and references as well as some fun quizzes about word origins. Debrief, for example, came from the Royal Air
Force in WWII while ear muffs are a mid-19th century American
invention. Have fun with THE
PRODIGAL TONGUE – writers for The Guardian and The Wall Street Journal and The Boston Globe certainly did - and you
will be surprised at all you learn! Starred review from Library Journal.
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