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The Prodigal Tongue: The Love-Hate Relationship Between American and British English by Lynne Murphy
awesomebrandi's review against another edition
5.0
This book is educational, while being fun, witty and down to Earth. It feels like you’re having a conversation with the author, who injects her personality without ever being self righteous. A really great book for word nerds.
crickedcactus's review against another edition
4.0
i thoroughly enjoyed this book, underlined practically every page and will love to read it again at some point in the future. I learnt a lot about what brings American and British English together - and apart- and I learnt a lot of fallacies that exist concerning the language. It made me laugh a lot and it made me wonder! It is also written in a very nonchalant style, so even if you aren't a linguist, it will not feel like a dry read at all. It even comes with quizzes at the end!
bioniclib's review against another edition
4.0
I’m afraid I waited too long after reading this book to write the review. I had started it but realized it was getting out of hand. Sooooo, before too much more time passed, I thought it best to just toss up what I have.
The first part of the book focuses on establishing the difference
“A famous quip holds that a language is a dialect with an army and a navy. On that basis, American should be a separate language from English. Not only do the two countries have separate armed forces, they’ve fought wars against each other. Still, though people first used American as a language name in the 18th century, it hasn’t stuck.” (loc. 467)
So a new term was needed. Fortunately, a linguist was at hand!
“I have squashed together national and dialects to form nationlects, my own special term for what American English and British English (and South African English and so forth) are.” (loc. 475)
Later on, she gives an example of how a Nation’s values shapes its nationalect. The American West and the bloody Manifest Destiny that came from it, went a long way towards establishing the Meritocracy and the individualism that America stresses.
“The frontier may be lawless, but frontierspeople are hearty pioneers. Not having a master has never been a bad thing for Americans, and so Americans have created a passel of positive words for people who battle the frontier, including trailblazer, groundbreaker, and pathfinder. Negative-tinged business expressions deride those who don’t have that independent spirit, for example groupthink and drink the Kool-Aid (alluding to the 1978 mass suicide by the Peoples Temple cult).” (loc. 1065)
This period of history coined words a-plenty. But that doesn’t always mean the word’s, um, meaning, stayed the same. The following example makes me wonder if Goose should have been the hero of Top Gun. Geese can, after all, fly.
“Maverick originally referred to an unbranded calf, but came to mean an unorthodox, independent-minded person.” (loc. 1056)
But I’ve always struggled with the emphasis on individual achievement this country values. I’ve seen the collective good, the interdependency, that Eastern Cultures exhibit, primarily through my reading about Buddhism. Turns out I needn’t go so far to see a culture that doesn’t always see individualism as good thing:
“That frontier values are not shared transatlantically can also be seen in the British use of cowboy (as in cowboy builder) to mean a ‘person without qualifications who competes against established traders or operators, providing shoddy goods or services’ (OED).” (loc 1067)
We can even move forward to the present century and the way the two countries report news to see a more subtle difference:
“The American sources make the fact of Prince’s death the topic of the sentence. Information about who Prince was and what he did lies between the commas, as bonus information. Age at time of death is considered important enough to deserve its own sentence. The British obituaries prioritize the information about who Prince was or what he did. They mention death and age in relative clauses, set off by commas. American obituaries are written as news (of a death); information about the deceased is given as context for the story. The British ones are written as eulogies, with facts about the death added as asides. When British news sources report deaths, they often say the person has sadly died. That’s something I may never get used to. Americans expect newspapers to sound more emotionally detached.” (loc. 1414)
There’s much more to the book, but I think I’ll leave you just one more note; on euphemisms:
“As a result, bathroom became more directly associated with smelly bodily functions, and so it can seem less than genteel, pushing Americans to use euphemisms for that euphemism, such as restroom and powder room. This is an example of what psycholinguist Steven Pinker calls “the euphemism treadmill”; pleasant words for unpleasant things become tainted by the unpleasantness of the thing, and therefore need to be replaced regularly.” (loc. 923)
The first part of the book focuses on establishing the difference
“A famous quip holds that a language is a dialect with an army and a navy. On that basis, American should be a separate language from English. Not only do the two countries have separate armed forces, they’ve fought wars against each other. Still, though people first used American as a language name in the 18th century, it hasn’t stuck.” (loc. 467)
So a new term was needed. Fortunately, a linguist was at hand!
“I have squashed together national and dialects to form nationlects, my own special term for what American English and British English (and South African English and so forth) are.” (loc. 475)
Later on, she gives an example of how a Nation’s values shapes its nationalect. The American West and the bloody Manifest Destiny that came from it, went a long way towards establishing the Meritocracy and the individualism that America stresses.
“The frontier may be lawless, but frontierspeople are hearty pioneers. Not having a master has never been a bad thing for Americans, and so Americans have created a passel of positive words for people who battle the frontier, including trailblazer, groundbreaker, and pathfinder. Negative-tinged business expressions deride those who don’t have that independent spirit, for example groupthink and drink the Kool-Aid (alluding to the 1978 mass suicide by the Peoples Temple cult).” (loc. 1065)
This period of history coined words a-plenty. But that doesn’t always mean the word’s, um, meaning, stayed the same. The following example makes me wonder if Goose should have been the hero of Top Gun. Geese can, after all, fly.
“Maverick originally referred to an unbranded calf, but came to mean an unorthodox, independent-minded person.” (loc. 1056)
But I’ve always struggled with the emphasis on individual achievement this country values. I’ve seen the collective good, the interdependency, that Eastern Cultures exhibit, primarily through my reading about Buddhism. Turns out I needn’t go so far to see a culture that doesn’t always see individualism as good thing:
“That frontier values are not shared transatlantically can also be seen in the British use of cowboy (as in cowboy builder) to mean a ‘person without qualifications who competes against established traders or operators, providing shoddy goods or services’ (OED).” (loc 1067)
We can even move forward to the present century and the way the two countries report news to see a more subtle difference:
“The American sources make the fact of Prince’s death the topic of the sentence. Information about who Prince was and what he did lies between the commas, as bonus information. Age at time of death is considered important enough to deserve its own sentence. The British obituaries prioritize the information about who Prince was or what he did. They mention death and age in relative clauses, set off by commas. American obituaries are written as news (of a death); information about the deceased is given as context for the story. The British ones are written as eulogies, with facts about the death added as asides. When British news sources report deaths, they often say the person has sadly died. That’s something I may never get used to. Americans expect newspapers to sound more emotionally detached.” (loc. 1414)
There’s much more to the book, but I think I’ll leave you just one more note; on euphemisms:
“As a result, bathroom became more directly associated with smelly bodily functions, and so it can seem less than genteel, pushing Americans to use euphemisms for that euphemism, such as restroom and powder room. This is an example of what psycholinguist Steven Pinker calls “the euphemism treadmill”; pleasant words for unpleasant things become tainted by the unpleasantness of the thing, and therefore need to be replaced regularly.” (loc. 923)
sevenlefts's review against another edition
4.0
I'd heard Murphy being interviewed on Helen Zaltzman's "The Allusionist" podcast, discussing British and American use of "please" and "thank you." This book was mentioned, so I thought I'd enjoy it. I did!
In addition to grammar and spelling differences, Murphy highlights borrowing back and forth across the Atlantic with a focus on what speakers of British English and American English think about their own and the others' versions of the Mother Tongue. Murphy, an American living and working in England, sees many instances of things that bug British English speakers about American English and is able to point out that many of these traits are either direct imports from England that have been forgotten there, or are in now way "incorrect."
Murphy definitely falls into the "descriptive" camp and doesn't have much use for prescriptivists. She delights in highlighting the differences without being too judgmental about them.
If you love language and have wondered about the many little differences between American and British English, you'll like this.
In addition to grammar and spelling differences, Murphy highlights borrowing back and forth across the Atlantic with a focus on what speakers of British English and American English think about their own and the others' versions of the Mother Tongue. Murphy, an American living and working in England, sees many instances of things that bug British English speakers about American English and is able to point out that many of these traits are either direct imports from England that have been forgotten there, or are in now way "incorrect."
Murphy definitely falls into the "descriptive" camp and doesn't have much use for prescriptivists. She delights in highlighting the differences without being too judgmental about them.
If you love language and have wondered about the many little differences between American and British English, you'll like this.
jmrprice's review against another edition
5.0
Fascinating - answered many English language questions I've wondered about for years. Conversational style that is not overly academic or stuffy - most enjoyable read.
walinchus's review against another edition
5.0
A great read! Top things I learned from The Prodigal Tongue & things the author (or someone) should address for a next book:
- Who knew this was such a big issue. The British complaining about imperialism? Wow the English do love irony.
-Yes! The monarchy is entertaining precisely because it's silly. Why could I never articulate that?!
- You know I had heard that Americans have an older accent but I had never actually put the image together in my mind: that every single Shakespeare movie has the wrong pronunciation.
-I was very surprised to learn that there are words that Americans pronounce "IZE" though they also don't write them that way. Americans, you may have to re-read that last sentence.
-Wait an estate is the projects?!
-Most courts that interpret dictionaries say something like: The contract uses this word. Every moron understands this word, it's the dictionary definition. Therefore this is the context of the Contract. But if English courts address the "context only" how does that work?
- Wait the English didn't invent diagramming sentences? But putting things in their proper place seems so... British. @lynneguist has busted another bias it seems.
-I can't even spell the American version of anesthetic. That word needs no superfluous vowels. Though superfluous does I suppose.
-Overall, probably does a better job assuaging American-Brit relations better than any politician ever could!
- Who knew this was such a big issue. The British complaining about imperialism? Wow the English do love irony.
-Yes! The monarchy is entertaining precisely because it's silly. Why could I never articulate that?!
- You know I had heard that Americans have an older accent but I had never actually put the image together in my mind: that every single Shakespeare movie has the wrong pronunciation.
-I was very surprised to learn that there are words that Americans pronounce "IZE" though they also don't write them that way. Americans, you may have to re-read that last sentence.
-Wait an estate is the projects?!
-Most courts that interpret dictionaries say something like: The contract uses this word. Every moron understands this word, it's the dictionary definition. Therefore this is the context of the Contract. But if English courts address the "context only" how does that work?
- Wait the English didn't invent diagramming sentences? But putting things in their proper place seems so... British. @lynneguist has busted another bias it seems.
-I can't even spell the American version of anesthetic. That word needs no superfluous vowels. Though superfluous does I suppose.
-Overall, probably does a better job assuaging American-Brit relations better than any politician ever could!
allyexa's review against another edition
informative
lighthearted
4.0
A very thorough and fairly fun journey through the world of English, and very handy for Americans who are tired of being “well, actually”-ed by their British friends and colleagues.
I recommend the audio version for all the nuances in pronunciation, though the spelling chapter was kind of a pain.
I especially liked her wrap up of “ultimately it’s not important what is correct English, since it’s an evolving and living language, and there are much more pressing matters to worry about.”
5/6/24
I recommend the audio version for all the nuances in pronunciation, though the spelling chapter was kind of a pain.
I especially liked her wrap up of “ultimately it’s not important what is correct English, since it’s an evolving and living language, and there are much more pressing matters to worry about.”
5/6/24
catherine_thegreat's review against another edition
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
4.0