Product Description

Culled from his On Language column in The Chicago Tribune, Nathan Bierma conducts a wide-ranging discussion of topics related to English language. He gets under the hood to find out what etymologists do to arrive at their conclusions (they get under the hood), looks at dictionaries through the eyes of those who make them (and catches them making up a word to catch would-be word pirates), and ponders simple usage questions (lay or lie? bring or take? could care less or couldn t care less?) in ways you may not have considered before. He also fields questions from his readers and shows off some of the more interesting Australian slang, horse racing cliches, untranslatable terms, birding vocabulary, and lots more.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #213281 in Books
• Published on: 2009-09-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Review
Bierma has been exceptionally careful in his research for stories involving language--starting by seeking out scholars who might have the information he's looking for and then actually listening. So his columns are both informed and informative. Oh yes, and entertaining. --Arnold Zwicky, past president, Linguistic Society of America

Nathan Bierma has an uncanny ear for the language, and an engaging way of recounting its twists and foibles. --Geoffrey Nunberg, NPR commentator for Fresh Air

Nathan Bierma is the best kind of language writer--good-humored, open to new ideas, and interested more in the WHY? of language than the DON'TS. His writing imparts pleasure and knowledge in equal doses. --Erin McKean, editor, New Oxford American Dictionary and founder of Wordnik, an online dictionary

About the Author
Nathan Bierma is a contributing editor to Books & Culture magazine. From 2004-2008 his On Language column was a regular feature in the Chicago Tribune.