Lynne Murphy - The Prodigal Tongue: The Love–Hate Relationship Between British and American English

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THE PRODIGAL TONGUE

Lynne Murphy is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Sussex. Born and raised in New York State, she studied linguistics at the Universities of Massachusetts and Illinois, before starting her academic career in South Africa and Texas. Since 2000, she has lived in Brighton, England, where she has acquired an English husband, an English daughter, and an alter ego: Lynneguist, author of the award-winning blog Separated by a Common Language.

The war of words waged between Americans and Brits has been filled with dour pedantry on both sideswhich is what makes Murphys book such a welcome and refreshing revelation. Murphy playfully and expertly pokes at the linguistic chauvinism displayed on both sides of the Atlantic, slyly overturning false assumptions and explaining the linguistic ins and outs of each others speech with candor and humor. She pulls back the curtain not just on our language, but our shared quirks, loves, and frustrations, and in the process, extols our linguistic differences as part of the rich history of English and the nations that speak it. With wit and expertise, The Prodigal Tongue calls all English speakers home to a language big enough for both fries and chips, bumbershoots and brollies.

Kory Stamper, author of Word by Word

How did we get our knickers in such a twist? The British sneer at creeping Americanisms that are neither creeping nor American. Meanwhile, their cousins in the US have an inferiority complex about their English and lust after those plummy British accents. Enter Lynne Murphy, a linguist who has a foot in each culture and a unique understanding of the Great Divide.

Patricia T. OConner, author of Woe Is I and, with Stewart Kellerman, Origins of the Specious

Forget the usual bumbershoots and lifts and lorriesLynne Murphys book on the difference between English in America and English in England is full of much more interesting things. Did you know that increasing numbers of Brits are saying haitch instead of aitch for the name of the letter H? Or that Americans are using the subjunctive ever more lately? Or that James Corden was advised when he started hosting The Late Late Show that Americans find willy and shag cute but not half-cut and knackered? Youll be chuffed as nuts on every page.

John McWhorter, author of Words on the Move and Talking Back, Talking Black, and host of Slates Lexicon Valley

Moving beyond facile stereotypes about British and American English, [Lynne Murphy] delves into subtle linguistic nuances with wit and aplomb. The Prodigal Tongue is a wonderful reading experience for anyone interested in understanding the true nature of these two distinct nationlects.

Ben Zimmer, language columnist for The Wall Street Journal

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Copyright 2018 by M. Lynne Murphy

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Excerpt from On the Loose in London by Dave Barry. Used by permission of Writers House LLC.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING - IN - PUBLICATION DATA

Names: Murphy, M. Lynne, author.

Title: The prodigal tongue : the love-hate relationship between American and

British English / Lynne Murphy.

Other titles: Love-hate relationship between American and British English

Description: New York : Penguin Books, 2018. | Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017057417 (print) | LCCN 2018002135 (ebook) | ISBN 9781524704889 (ebook) | ISBN 9780143131106 (paperback)

Subjects: LCSH: English languageSocial aspectsUnited States. | English languageSocial aspectsGreat Britain. | English languageVariationUnited States. | English languageVariationGreat Britain. | English languagePsychological aspects. | English languageUsage. | English language--History. | BISAC: LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General. | LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / Historical & Comparative. | LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Reference.

Classification: LCC PE2808 (ebook) | LCC PE2808 .M87 2018 (print) | DDC 427/.9dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017057417

While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers, internet addresses, and other contact information at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors or for changes that occur after publication. Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

Cover design: Roseanne Serra

Cover illustration: Luci Gutierrez

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For Arden, who says tomato bothways

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