Weeds in the Garden of Words: Further Observations on the Tangled History of the English Language

by Kate Burridge

• ISBN13: 9780521618236
• ISBN10: 0521618231
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-06-20
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Kate Burridge follows the international success of Blooming English with another entertaining excursion into the ever-changing nature of the complex and captivating English language. If language is a glorious garden, filled with exotic hybrids as well as traditional heritage specimens, then weeds will also thrive on its fertile grounds. Linguistic weeds may be defined as pronunciations or constructions that are no longer used. For example, Burridge points out how "aint" or double negatives were at one time quite acceptable in everyday speaking and writing but are now classified as "weeds" that should no longer have a place in our vocabulary. And, as she so deftly accomplished in Blooming English, Burridge goes on here to further celebrate our capacity to play with language, and to examine the ways we use it: in slang and jargon, swearing, speaking the unspeakable, or concealing unpleasant or inconvenient facts. In this new volume she gives us another fun and informative work for enjoyable browsing; for discovering intriguing trivia about language, history, and social customs; and for employing as a peerless weapon in word games. Kate Burridge is the Chair of Linguistics at Monash University and a regular presenter of segments on the Australian Broadcast Company.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction to the Weedy Traits of the English Language	1	(13)
Our Lexical Weeds: the World of Jargon, Slang and Euphemism	14	(35)
More Lexical Weeds: Word Origins and Meaning Shifts	49	(35)
Our Grammatical Weeds	84	(36)
Weeds in Our Sounds and Spelling	120	(45)
The Truly Nasty Weeds of the English Language?	165	(17)
W(h)ither Our Weeds?	182	(4)
Bibliography	186	(5)
List of Interesting Words	191