Words on the Move: Why English Won’t - and Can’t - Sit Still (Like, Literally) - John McWhorter
Shared by:anansisan
Written by
Read by John McWhorter
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
A best-selling linguist takes us on a lively tour of how the English language is evolving before our eyes — and why we should embrace this transformation and not fight it.
Language is always changing — but we tend not to like it. We understand that new words must be created for new things, but the way English is spoken today rubs many of us the wrong way. Whether it’s the use of literally to mean “figuratively” rather than “by the letter” or the way young people use LOL and like, or business jargon like what’s the ask? — it often seems as if the language is deteriorating before our eyes.
But the truth is different and a lot less scary, as John McWhorter shows in this delightful and eye-opening exploration of how English has always been in motion and continues to evolve today. Drawing examples from everyday life and employing a generous helping of humor, he shows that these shifts are a natural process common to all languages and that we should embrace and appreciate these changes, not condemn them.
Words on the Move opens our eyes to the surprising backstories to the words and expressions we use every day. Did you know that silly once meant “blessed”? Or that ought was the original past tense of owe? Or that the suffix -ly in adverbs is actually a remnant of the word like? And have you ever wondered why some people from New Orleans sound as if they come from Brooklyn?
McWhorter encourages us to marvel at the dynamism and resilience of the English language, and his book offers a lively journey through which we discover that words are ever on the move, and our lives are all the richer for it.
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| Creation Date: | Sun, 25 Dec 2016 20:40:06 -0500 |
| This is a Multifile Torrent | |
| Words on the Move - 1.mp3 8.55 MBs | |
| Words on the Move - 2.mp3 39.49 MBs | |
| Words on the Move - 3.mp3 37.91 MBs | |
| Words on the Move - 4.mp3 28.11 MBs | |
| Words on the Move - 5.mp3 28.48 MBs | |
| Words on the Move - 6.mp3 26.35 MBs | |
| Words on the Move - 7.mp3 24.5 MBs | |
| Words on the Move.jpg 29.12 KBs | |
| Words on the Move.txt 1.71 KBs | |
| Combined File Size: | 193.42 MBs |
| Piece Size: | 128 KBs |
| Comment: | Updated by AudioBook Bay |
| Encoding: | UTF-8 |
| Info Hash: | df3ccde35ad37dde69ba37f8dcb62619b8e39ade |
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This post has 2 comments with rating of 3/5
December 26th, 2016
Thanks yet again, anansisan!
I adored “Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue.”
*laughing*
The whole ‘like’ movement seems to have bypassed me and my friends. However, my family members are infected! RUN!
I also loathe the use of ‘literally’ when it is improperly used.
If you ever find yourself in NH USA, the drinks are on me :)
January 5th, 2017
This is trivial when it comes to the destruction of the word “literally.” But it matters immensely when it comes to the interpretation of law. When it comes to law, English absolutely must sit still or else there is no law at all.
“I entirely concur in the propriety of resorting to the sense in which the Constitution was accepted and ratified by the nation. In that sense alone it is the legitimate Constitution. And if that is not the guide in expounding it, there may be no security for a consistent and stable, more than for a faithful exercise of its powers. If the meaning of the text be sought in the changeable meaning of the words composing it, it is evident that the shape and attributes of the Government must partake of the changes to which the words and phrases of all living languages are constantly subject. What a metamorphosis would be produced in the code of law if all its ancient phraseology were to be taken in its modern sense. And that the language of our Constitution is already undergoing interpretations unknown to its founder, will I believe appear to all unbiassed Enquirers into the history of its origin and adoption.”
– James Madison
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