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Highly Irregular: Why Tough, Through, and Dough Don't Rhyme and Other Oddities of the English Language
Maybe you've been speaking English all your life, or maybe you learned it later on. But whether you use it just well enough to get your daily business done, or you're an expert with a red pen who never omits a comma or misplaces a modifier, you must have noticed that there are some things about this language that are just weird.
Perhaps you're reading a book and stop to puzzle over absurd spelling rules (Why are there so many ways to say '-gh'?), or you hear someone talking and get stuck on an expression (Why do we say How dare you but not How try you?), or your kid quizzes you on homework (Why is it eleven and twelve instead of oneteen and twoteen?). Suddenly you ask yourself, Wait, why do we do it this way? You think about it, try to explain it, and keep running into walls. It doesn't conform to logic. It doesn't work the way you'd expect it to. There doesn't seem to be any rule at all.
There might not be a logical explanation, but there will be an explanation, and this book is here to help.
In Highly Irregular, Arika Okrent answers these questions and many more. Along the way she tells the story of the many influences--from invading French armies to stubborn Flemish printers--that made our language the way it is today. Both an entertaining send-up of linguistic oddities and a deeply researched history of English, Highly Irregular is essential reading for anyone who has paused to wonder about our marvelous mess of a language.
Perhaps you're reading a book and stop to puzzle over absurd spelling rules (Why are there so many ways to say '-gh'?), or you hear someone talking and get stuck on an expression (Why do we say How dare you but not How try you?), or your kid quizzes you on homework (Why is it eleven and twelve instead of oneteen and twoteen?). Suddenly you ask yourself, Wait, why do we do it this way? You think about it, try to explain it, and keep running into walls. It doesn't conform to logic. It doesn't work the way you'd expect it to. There doesn't seem to be any rule at all.
There might not be a logical explanation, but there will be an explanation, and this book is here to help.
In Highly Irregular, Arika Okrent answers these questions and many more. Along the way she tells the story of the many influences--from invading French armies to stubborn Flemish printers--that made our language the way it is today. Both an entertaining send-up of linguistic oddities and a deeply researched history of English, Highly Irregular is essential reading for anyone who has paused to wonder about our marvelous mess of a language.
264 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2021
About the author
Arika Okrent
3 books89 followersArika Okrent is an American linguist, known particularly for her 2009 book In the Land of Invented Languages: Esperanto Rock Stars, Klingon Poets, Loglan Lovers, and the Mad Dreamers Who Tried to Build A Perfect Language, a result of her five years of research into the topic of constructed languages.
Arika Okrent was born in Chicago and became fascinated with languages at an early age. She flitted from language to language in school, wondering why she couldn't just settle down and commit to one, until she finally discovered a field that would support and encourage her scandalous behavior: Linguistics. After some lengthy affairs with Hungarian (she taught in Hungary after college) and American Sign Language (she earned an M.A. in Linguistics from Gallaudet, the world's only university for the deaf), she began a Ph.D. program at the University of Chicago, where she fell hard for Psycholinguistics. She first worked in a gesture research lab, and later took up with a brain research lab, where she conducted the experiments that would earn her a degree in 2004. By that time she had begun to spend long afternoons with the languages that even linguists think they're too good for -- the artificial languages, losers like Esperanto and Klingon. Initial feelings of pity and revulsion gave way to fascination and affection, and she embarked on a whirlwind romance with the history of invented languages. The love child of this passion is her book In the Land of Invented Languages.
Arika Okrent was born in Chicago and became fascinated with languages at an early age. She flitted from language to language in school, wondering why she couldn't just settle down and commit to one, until she finally discovered a field that would support and encourage her scandalous behavior: Linguistics. After some lengthy affairs with Hungarian (she taught in Hungary after college) and American Sign Language (she earned an M.A. in Linguistics from Gallaudet, the world's only university for the deaf), she began a Ph.D. program at the University of Chicago, where she fell hard for Psycholinguistics. She first worked in a gesture research lab, and later took up with a brain research lab, where she conducted the experiments that would earn her a degree in 2004. By that time she had begun to spend long afternoons with the languages that even linguists think they're too good for -- the artificial languages, losers like Esperanto and Klingon. Initial feelings of pity and revulsion gave way to fascination and affection, and she embarked on a whirlwind romance with the history of invented languages. The love child of this passion is her book In the Land of Invented Languages.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
February 23, 2021
Highly irregular, indeed! This book is one of the most entertaining works, either fiction or nonfiction, that I have read in a long time and also one of the most informative. No one who has learned English, either as a child or later in life, could fail to notice that our language has a lot of weird and inconsistent items, and this book is a collection of articles exploring many of those oddities for those of us who are neither historians nor linguistics professors. First there is a general discussion of the main types of weirdness found in English, and then there are four sections on “who is to blame for this mess”. Going back in history, the “barbarians” are the first culprits, followed by the French, then the printing press (that danged Gutenberg!), and then the snobs. Finally, Okrent tells us we can blame ourselves and warns us that is not likely to change.
A lot of the history here was not the sort emphasized in my history classes, nor was the linguistics the type I learned I school either. In addition to learning fun history and linguistics, I also increased my vocabulary with words like “pleonasm”, which is a useless waste of verbiage using words that are overly redundant!
I am not a big fan of illustrations, which often fail to hit the mark, but Sean O’Neill’s cartoons are the perfect accompaniment to the text. They are fun, inventive, and they illustrate the points. In one cartoon a guy holding a mug of beer gawks at a sign saying “Be THOUGHTFUL to our NEIGHBORS No COUGHING No LAUGHING after EIGHT PM”. And who can resist a cartoon showing a young Roman boy in a toga riding a skateboard? I am also pleased to report that they come through fine in an ebook format, and I hope the publisher will decide to make it available in that format.
The style of the book may be informal, but it is clear from the Bibliography, whose contents range from popular works like Richard Lederer’s Crazy English to academic papers like “A Phonological Motivation behind the Diatonic Stress Shift in Modern English”, that Arika Okrent did a thorough job on her research. Something tells me that she probably had as much fun with that research as I had with the product.
Let me recommend that you read this book either alone or in the company of others who do not mind your regular bursts of laughter and interruptions when you share especially good tidbits.
Probably everyone has wondered at some time why English is the way it is. “No matter how much we break it down, lay it out, look it over, or go over it…we may not know exactly why we can’t also ‘go it over’ , but we don’t have to go it alone.” Thanks to Arika Okrent we can always turn to Highly Irregular.
I received an advance review copy of this book through the publisher and Edelweiss.
A lot of the history here was not the sort emphasized in my history classes, nor was the linguistics the type I learned I school either. In addition to learning fun history and linguistics, I also increased my vocabulary with words like “pleonasm”, which is a useless waste of verbiage using words that are overly redundant!
I am not a big fan of illustrations, which often fail to hit the mark, but Sean O’Neill’s cartoons are the perfect accompaniment to the text. They are fun, inventive, and they illustrate the points. In one cartoon a guy holding a mug of beer gawks at a sign saying “Be THOUGHTFUL to our NEIGHBORS No COUGHING No LAUGHING after EIGHT PM”. And who can resist a cartoon showing a young Roman boy in a toga riding a skateboard? I am also pleased to report that they come through fine in an ebook format, and I hope the publisher will decide to make it available in that format.
The style of the book may be informal, but it is clear from the Bibliography, whose contents range from popular works like Richard Lederer’s Crazy English to academic papers like “A Phonological Motivation behind the Diatonic Stress Shift in Modern English”, that Arika Okrent did a thorough job on her research. Something tells me that she probably had as much fun with that research as I had with the product.
Let me recommend that you read this book either alone or in the company of others who do not mind your regular bursts of laughter and interruptions when you share especially good tidbits.
Probably everyone has wondered at some time why English is the way it is. “No matter how much we break it down, lay it out, look it over, or go over it…we may not know exactly why we can’t also ‘go it over’ , but we don’t have to go it alone.” Thanks to Arika Okrent we can always turn to Highly Irregular.
I received an advance review copy of this book through the publisher and Edelweiss.
December 30, 2021
Enjoyable and informative book!
April 24, 2022
I am quite a fan of Okrent's previous book about invented languages but this is one is so much lighter and organized into tidbits such that I can't help but apply my dreaded magazine-article-as-book tag. (Although in this case, it's more like several enjoyable articles.) The goofy illustrations also lend it a note of lightheartedness. Still, I did learn things!
One pattern that comes up repeatedly--maybe she could have made more of an overarching point of it--is that English is constantly in flux and sometimes a word gets caught up in a current of similar but not really related words, or gets left behind when its fellows get swept away to a new spelling or pronunciation. Thus, many of our language's eccentricities are either orphans of the past (like "unkempt" as an adjective when the verb is now regular "uncombed") or pedantic attempts to make words consistent with each other, or with Latin (like the pointless "p" in "receipt").
In her prior book, she found the soul of language in its experiments and in this one, she finds the soul of English in its inconsistencies.
If you like this, consider The Prodigal Tongue.
One pattern that comes up repeatedly--maybe she could have made more of an overarching point of it--is that English is constantly in flux and sometimes a word gets caught up in a current of similar but not really related words, or gets left behind when its fellows get swept away to a new spelling or pronunciation. Thus, many of our language's eccentricities are either orphans of the past (like "unkempt" as an adjective when the verb is now regular "uncombed") or pedantic attempts to make words consistent with each other, or with Latin (like the pointless "p" in "receipt").
In her prior book, she found the soul of language in its experiments and in this one, she finds the soul of English in its inconsistencies.
If you like this, consider The Prodigal Tongue.
July 20, 2021
When I started this book, I envisioned just another presentation of odd English words, pronunciations and usages, and was prepared to be somewhat enlightened, but maybe a little bored. The cutesy cover did nothing to dispel my expectations. Happily, I seriously underestimated Ms. Okrent. Lighthearted the book may be, but it includes some fascinating linguistic history. Ms. Okrent reaches way back in time to trace the development of many English words, groups of words, and their quirks of pronunciation. If you are interested at all in the English language, you are bound to find things here that you didn't know, and enjoy reading about them as well.
December 28, 2021
Very entertaining book. Mostly etymology and the evolution of spelling and usage over time. Thus if you're interested in English history (both the nation and the language), you'll appreciate the book. The trite humor doesn't help, and at times the work is repetitive (it reads like a series of articles, which it might have been), but there's a lot of research packed into this compendium, and it will help you appreciate the eclectic and versatile nature of the English language.
July 24, 2022
Why is "of" spelled "uv"? Why are English words so hard to spell? This little book explains why our language is so strange.
I even used some of the examples for my kids at school (who like to complain about how hard words are to spell).
So if you are a language nerd like me, you'll enjoy this book.
I even used some of the examples for my kids at school (who like to complain about how hard words are to spell).
So if you are a language nerd like me, you'll enjoy this book.
June 30, 2021
•"But language is not a product of engineering. It is the product of evolution, and the faults of English are similar to those that can be found in our body."
Highly Irregular is a super fun take on the important and eccentric chunks of the metamorphosis of English from being a rather insignificant 'spoken' language to being the world's most important medium of communication.
It's a book that can be read without any prior linguistic knowledge. If read from cover to cover (which is what I did) , it reads like a fun ride through time.
•"The weirdness of English can be blamed on its history."
In the mesh of colonization, immigration, cross cultural ancestors, and living in a cosmopolitan city, I began unpacking all of these layers in hopes of understanding who I am (or rather the product of what). This lead me to making an unofficial linguistic quest, which gives some context to why you must try this gorgeous book.
For better or worse, the history of the English language and its evolution are of import even two those who acquired it as a second or even a third language.
The illustrations by Sean O'Neil are so stupendous, they deserve a whole separate post
Thank you @oxunipress for the advanced reader's copy, it has truly been an honour 💙
Highly Irregular is a super fun take on the important and eccentric chunks of the metamorphosis of English from being a rather insignificant 'spoken' language to being the world's most important medium of communication.
It's a book that can be read without any prior linguistic knowledge. If read from cover to cover (which is what I did) , it reads like a fun ride through time.
•"The weirdness of English can be blamed on its history."
In the mesh of colonization, immigration, cross cultural ancestors, and living in a cosmopolitan city, I began unpacking all of these layers in hopes of understanding who I am (or rather the product of what). This lead me to making an unofficial linguistic quest, which gives some context to why you must try this gorgeous book.
For better or worse, the history of the English language and its evolution are of import even two those who acquired it as a second or even a third language.
The illustrations by Sean O'Neil are so stupendous, they deserve a whole separate post
Thank you @oxunipress for the advanced reader's copy, it has truly been an honour 💙
February 6, 2022
Thoroughly-researched yet light and witty read about the weirdness of the English language and how it came to be that way. For me it served as a counterargument to my language snobbery—language is constantly evolving, and what is accepted as the 'truth' today likely wasn't so a few hundred years ago, and is always evolving via an ongoing battle between habit and a series of rules.
The chapters are short and the book can read like a series of articles, but overall it's a good starter book for someone interested in learning more about how English got to be so strange.
The chapters are short and the book can read like a series of articles, but overall it's a good starter book for someone interested in learning more about how English got to be so strange.
March 15, 2022
Прекрасна книжка про різноманітні дивні чи ірраціональні особливості правопису та вимови в англійській мові. Багато з наведених прикладів були відкриттям для мене, хоч я й думав, що непогано знаю англійську (colonel читається як kernel? у salmon та bomb не всі приголосні вимовляються?) Звісно, авторка не лише описує ці особливості та формує з ними доволі кумедні каламбури, а й розписує історичний та лінгвістичний контекст їх появи, наскільки це можливо в такій короткій та розважальній книжці. Тож читати і весело, і пізнавально, а заодно корисно для поліпшення свого інґлішу.
July 16, 2021
Witty. Interesting. And also witty.
December 23, 2021
Fun quick read.
March 3, 2022
Definitely on a to-reread shelf. There is so many words and not enough processing power.
+++ Includes cute drawings.
+++ Includes cute drawings.
June 26, 2021
I wish I could give this book more than 5 stars. It should be required reading for every middle school and highschool english class.
It is a perfect balance of scholarly research and layman accessibility.
Read it and enjoy.
It is a perfect balance of scholarly research and layman accessibility.
Read it and enjoy.
May 6, 2022
Very good information that I'll definitely be looking back on for a long time. Extremely clear explanations. Though I still want to know more about our weird language quirks, I know we only know so much and can only talk about so much
October 19, 2022
I'm a big ol' language nerd and I loved this book. English has a fascinating and often ridiculous history, and Arika Okrent perfectly sums that up with this exploration of the many weird quirks of the language and where they come from. So many times while reading it I would have to search out some hapless friend or family member to relate my newfound knowledge to, delightedly ambushing them with, "Did you know...??"
If you've ever been curious about why we anglophones say some of the strange things we say or just why grammar sometimes (most times) makes absolutely no sense, this is a funny, well-written and wonderfully engaging read!
If you've ever been curious about why we anglophones say some of the strange things we say or just why grammar sometimes (most times) makes absolutely no sense, this is a funny, well-written and wonderfully engaging read!
October 25, 2021
A very fun read! Arika Okrent sure has been working the podcast circuit my goodness, I think I've heard her explain the subtitular story of "gh" to at least five different hosts (to be fair it is a good one - for more see pp. 45-51). My dad actually bought me a copy of this book because he'd heard about it on 99% Invisible, a show I recommended to him, so really the podcast promotion cycle has in fact been a boon for me specifically.
Gretchen McCulloch (co-host of one of the other podcasts, Lingthusiasm) is so right in her back cover praise, where she compliments Okrent's ability to take "oft-repeated stories about English and [push] them a step deeper." I think that's the main thing that separates out this pop linguistic book from similar fare.
Stray observations (nearly all of which are just fun facts I enjoyed):
- The story of "sometimes 'y'" fits into one of my favourite linguistic categories - the pedantic "actually" that loops back around to the original nugget having been sort of correct to begin with. As it stands, although yes lots of other consonants (and groups of consonants) sometimes act like vowels - and vowels can act like consonants too - 'y' is notable for the frequency with which is swings and for its ability to act as a vowel in the middle of a word (pp. 19-23).
- Who knew that "oy vey [iz mir]" = "oh woe [is me]" - and then we retained just "oy vey" and just "woe is me," dative case formation intact (p. 81)!
- Very much enjoyed the whole section (pp. 82-93) explaining the timeline of Germanic and French influence on English and why it has long seemed true to me that words with Germanic roots are more down home and words with French ones are more formal (turns out it seems that way because it largely is true). Though I have to admit that when she writes out the tables on pp. 89-91 I don't think every single example follows that pattern for me specifically - meaning I find some of the Germanic words she lists feel subjectively fancier (e.g. uphold as opposed to support and bliss as opposed to joy).
- The origin of the f/ves single/plural pairing is so interesting (pp. 113-114)!
- My dad, who I think actually bought this book for himself because he's asked to immediately borrow it as soon as I am finished, will be extremely disappointed by the lack of expansion on the point about insure/ensure as distinct (p. 173) - his personal white whale in the journey I've tried to set him on from prescriptivism to descriptivism.
- Couth = kith! Kempt = combed! Etymology never fails to bring me new and thrilling gems (pp. 187-188).
- Loved the section about eggplants (pp. 192-195). Just a plant that looks like an egg. Or an insane apple. Also was rolling reading John Gerard's very proper 1597 take on the veggie: "I rather wishe Englishmen to content themselves with the meate and sauce of our own country than with the fruite and sauce eaten with such peril: for doubtlesse these apples have a mischievous property; the use thereof is to be utterly forsaken. It is better to esteem this plant and have him in the garden for your pleasure and the rarenesse thereof, then for any virtue or good qualities yet knowne." He simply could not have been coming harder for eggplant's neck.
- I have to say I didn't think the illustrations added much to the experience for me, but they didn't take away from it either.
Gretchen McCulloch (co-host of one of the other podcasts, Lingthusiasm) is so right in her back cover praise, where she compliments Okrent's ability to take "oft-repeated stories about English and [push] them a step deeper." I think that's the main thing that separates out this pop linguistic book from similar fare.
Stray observations (nearly all of which are just fun facts I enjoyed):
- The story of "sometimes 'y'" fits into one of my favourite linguistic categories - the pedantic "actually" that loops back around to the original nugget having been sort of correct to begin with. As it stands, although yes lots of other consonants (and groups of consonants) sometimes act like vowels - and vowels can act like consonants too - 'y' is notable for the frequency with which is swings and for its ability to act as a vowel in the middle of a word (pp. 19-23).
- Who knew that "oy vey [iz mir]" = "oh woe [is me]" - and then we retained just "oy vey" and just "woe is me," dative case formation intact (p. 81)!
- Very much enjoyed the whole section (pp. 82-93) explaining the timeline of Germanic and French influence on English and why it has long seemed true to me that words with Germanic roots are more down home and words with French ones are more formal (turns out it seems that way because it largely is true). Though I have to admit that when she writes out the tables on pp. 89-91 I don't think every single example follows that pattern for me specifically - meaning I find some of the Germanic words she lists feel subjectively fancier (e.g. uphold as opposed to support and bliss as opposed to joy).
- The origin of the f/ves single/plural pairing is so interesting (pp. 113-114)!
- My dad, who I think actually bought this book for himself because he's asked to immediately borrow it as soon as I am finished, will be extremely disappointed by the lack of expansion on the point about insure/ensure as distinct (p. 173) - his personal white whale in the journey I've tried to set him on from prescriptivism to descriptivism.
- Couth = kith! Kempt = combed! Etymology never fails to bring me new and thrilling gems (pp. 187-188).
- Loved the section about eggplants (pp. 192-195). Just a plant that looks like an egg. Or an insane apple. Also was rolling reading John Gerard's very proper 1597 take on the veggie: "I rather wishe Englishmen to content themselves with the meate and sauce of our own country than with the fruite and sauce eaten with such peril: for doubtlesse these apples have a mischievous property; the use thereof is to be utterly forsaken. It is better to esteem this plant and have him in the garden for your pleasure and the rarenesse thereof, then for any virtue or good qualities yet knowne." He simply could not have been coming harder for eggplant's neck.
- I have to say I didn't think the illustrations added much to the experience for me, but they didn't take away from it either.
June 8, 2023
[Imported automatically from my blog. Some formatting there may not have translated here.]
If you're like me, you make the occasional spelling blunder. And you might occasionally misuse a word or two in conversation, like saying "literally" when you mean "figuratively".
And if you're also like me, you regularly notice other people doing the same thing, and you deride their sloppy ignorance. OK, you're not perfect, but those other people are a lot worse, right?
This book has good news and bad for people like us, reader. Good news: as an English user, you've mastered an extremely tough language. It's something of a miracle that you're just making infrequent mistakes.
Bad news, at least for us language snobs: focusing on language purity is a silly waste of time. English isn't pure and logical. Never was, never will be. OK, maybe you knew that. As George Carlin noted, we park in driveways, and drive on parkways. But Arika Okrent keep piling up examples of how deeply weird things are, Englishwise, things you (almost certainly) have never noticed and taken for granted.
A couple of examples: as the Firesign Theater's Nick Danger asked when the narrator described him as "ruthlessly" walking again by night: "I wonder where Ruth is?" Well, "ruth" used to be an actually-used word, meaning, roughly, "compassion". You can still find it in dictionaries, but it's long vanished from normal usage. Still, "ruthless" hangs around.
And we have a few perfectly good words for things that smell bad: they stink. They reek. Where's the equivalent single word for things that smell good? Dude, there isn't one. Whoa.
And then there's the word (yes, it's a word) "Mrs." Where did that R come from? Probably filched from "Colonel", right?.
Okrent does a fine job of explaining why these oddities came about, using all the tools of the linguist's game. The major problem was Britain's long history of being invaded by various funny-talking forces. The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes did their part by evolving their mostly-Germanic tongue into "Old English". The Vikings introduced their own contributions, and the Norman invaders brought in Latin and French influences. All very messy.
Okrent tells the story of today's English with an accessible style laced with humor. A very fun read.
And "literally"? Reader, it's just a general intensifier now. That's happened to a lot of words. Get used to it.
October 31, 2024
Highly Irregular
The rather long title says it all. I like to say English is schizophrenic because nothing about it’s spelling or pronunciation is clear at first glance. It really came home to me when I became friends with a Polish family and tutored their teenage daughter in English grammar and spelling. I was born to English, and I still have problems with spelling because it isn’t phonetic.
The book begins by talking about a 246 line poem written by Nolst Trenti to help his Dutch pupils on how to deal with the English spelling chaos. No other European language has our “spelling problem”. He wanted all languages to be orderly. No such luck with English! I think it is so because English is a great stealer of words.
We unabashedly borrow, steal, adapt, and make up words. While the Germans string words together to make new ones, like unterwasserboot (under water boat), we translate it into its Latin elements and make the new word submarine. While we’re at it, we change some vowel sounds, change the diphthong sounds, and sometimes just ignore a letter randomly. Just look at the spelling of diphthong! The general rule is to pronounce ph, like f, but in diphthong, we ignore the first h altogether!
And what about tough, through, and dough? As noted in the title, they don’t rhyme, and English is full of similar examples. Blame it on the great vowel shift, which lasted from about the 15th through 17th centuries. But I digress. This is a book review, not an English language lesson.
There are five sections in this wonderful book, and each introduction gives a quick history of English as pertains to that topic. It’s an appetizer to the coming meal of that section. So dive in, fork and knife (why the k in knife)? You’ll find out and have fun at the same time.
Arika Okrent is a linguist with a PhD. from the University of Chicago. I, alas, have only one undergraduate linguistics class under my belt. However, you need only a love of our language and a curiosity of why we spell and pronounce words the way we do to appreciate the solid information and the wit with which it is presented here. The illustrations by Sean O’Neill are funny as well.
I just LOVE this kind of book. I’m a language nerd and not ashamed of admitting it. I’ll probably read this book again – several times!
The rather long title says it all. I like to say English is schizophrenic because nothing about it’s spelling or pronunciation is clear at first glance. It really came home to me when I became friends with a Polish family and tutored their teenage daughter in English grammar and spelling. I was born to English, and I still have problems with spelling because it isn’t phonetic.
The book begins by talking about a 246 line poem written by Nolst Trenti to help his Dutch pupils on how to deal with the English spelling chaos. No other European language has our “spelling problem”. He wanted all languages to be orderly. No such luck with English! I think it is so because English is a great stealer of words.
We unabashedly borrow, steal, adapt, and make up words. While the Germans string words together to make new ones, like unterwasserboot (under water boat), we translate it into its Latin elements and make the new word submarine. While we’re at it, we change some vowel sounds, change the diphthong sounds, and sometimes just ignore a letter randomly. Just look at the spelling of diphthong! The general rule is to pronounce ph, like f, but in diphthong, we ignore the first h altogether!
And what about tough, through, and dough? As noted in the title, they don’t rhyme, and English is full of similar examples. Blame it on the great vowel shift, which lasted from about the 15th through 17th centuries. But I digress. This is a book review, not an English language lesson.
There are five sections in this wonderful book, and each introduction gives a quick history of English as pertains to that topic. It’s an appetizer to the coming meal of that section. So dive in, fork and knife (why the k in knife)? You’ll find out and have fun at the same time.
Arika Okrent is a linguist with a PhD. from the University of Chicago. I, alas, have only one undergraduate linguistics class under my belt. However, you need only a love of our language and a curiosity of why we spell and pronounce words the way we do to appreciate the solid information and the wit with which it is presented here. The illustrations by Sean O’Neill are funny as well.
I just LOVE this kind of book. I’m a language nerd and not ashamed of admitting it. I’ll probably read this book again – several times!
January 25, 2022
Another great book on words; spelling, etymology, grammar. All the good stuff.
Speaking of good stuff, here are a few of my favorite facts:
The Y in the middle of words, like syllable, system, cycle, used to be spelled with the Greek letter epsilon, which can also be spelled ypsilon. And looks like the letter E. (22)
The Great in Great Britain is a relic of how great used to refer to size. Great Britain is the largest of the British Isles. (25)
It actually makes more sense to use a base-twelve system than a base-10. The former is divisible by 2,3,4, and 6. Whereas the latter on 2 and 5. Plus you can count to 12 on one hand: “...use your thumb to count off three knuckles on each of the other fingers.” (77)
We also use twelve as units of measurements for useful things: 12 inches in a foot, 12 hours on the clock, we even have a special word for 12 of something; a dozen. (77) So the most likely reason it’s eleven and twelve is because they were commonly used and the proto-Germanic word, something like ainlif, one lif, and twalif, two lif (whatever a lif was), stuck around to be morphed into eleven and twelve. (76) And when you think about it, it isn’t until you get to the 60s that the numbers start to make consistent sense, it’s “twenty, not twoty. Thirty, not thirty. Fifty, not fifty” (78)
Oy vey! is constructed the same way as Woe is me! They both use the dative case, a case we don’t have any more. In Yiddish it was originally “Oy vey iz mir (oh woe is [indirect object me)” Woe is me has the implied preposition the dative case signaled and means something like “Woe is unto me.” (80)
Another reason for messy spelling is printing presses took off around the same time as the Great vowel Shift. So the spelling was being standardized at the same time as the pronunciations were shifting. (139)
Speaking of good stuff, here are a few of my favorite facts:
The Y in the middle of words, like syllable, system, cycle, used to be spelled with the Greek letter epsilon, which can also be spelled ypsilon. And looks like the letter E. (22)
The Great in Great Britain is a relic of how great used to refer to size. Great Britain is the largest of the British Isles. (25)
It actually makes more sense to use a base-twelve system than a base-10. The former is divisible by 2,3,4, and 6. Whereas the latter on 2 and 5. Plus you can count to 12 on one hand: “...use your thumb to count off three knuckles on each of the other fingers.” (77)
We also use twelve as units of measurements for useful things: 12 inches in a foot, 12 hours on the clock, we even have a special word for 12 of something; a dozen. (77) So the most likely reason it’s eleven and twelve is because they were commonly used and the proto-Germanic word, something like ainlif, one lif, and twalif, two lif (whatever a lif was), stuck around to be morphed into eleven and twelve. (76) And when you think about it, it isn’t until you get to the 60s that the numbers start to make consistent sense, it’s “twenty, not twoty. Thirty, not thirty. Fifty, not fifty” (78)
Oy vey! is constructed the same way as Woe is me! They both use the dative case, a case we don’t have any more. In Yiddish it was originally “Oy vey iz mir (oh woe is [indirect object me)” Woe is me has the implied preposition the dative case signaled and means something like “Woe is unto me.” (80)
Another reason for messy spelling is printing presses took off around the same time as the Great vowel Shift. So the spelling was being standardized at the same time as the pronunciations were shifting. (139)
July 9, 2022
I've gotten super into the show "a way with words" about the english language, so when I heard about this book from...some source that I forget now... I was all over it. This was such a fun and interesting read! One of those books that you're constantly interrupting whatever your partner's doing to be like "OMG did you know...[fun fact from book]" I kinda want to give this book to anyone who's complained about the use of literally or anyone who's just been pedantic about english generally. Though truthfully, I also went through that phase when I was younger and ignorant.
One thing that was weird to me about the book was that each section was introduced with a few pages of context, and then the first chapter in that section would have the exact same text, practically, sometimes word for word. I don't get that--why repeat the intro in the first chapter? It's a very strange move.
I also would have liked a glossary of terms that etymologists would know that I didn't know in the back of the book. The author might define a term like "polysemous" within a chapter, but if that word was used again in another chapter I wouldn't necessarily remember what it meant or where it had been defined.
One thing that was weird to me about the book was that each section was introduced with a few pages of context, and then the first chapter in that section would have the exact same text, practically, sometimes word for word. I don't get that--why repeat the intro in the first chapter? It's a very strange move.
I also would have liked a glossary of terms that etymologists would know that I didn't know in the back of the book. The author might define a term like "polysemous" within a chapter, but if that word was used again in another chapter I wouldn't necessarily remember what it meant or where it had been defined.
July 16, 2021
I first heard of this book on an episode of one of my favorite podcasts: LINGTHUSIASM. I am so glad that I bought this one. This book was a joy to read as a lover of languages and the history of English. It is an easy read even if you aren’t into English and the illustrations by Sean O’Neill are a nice touch.
As a French teacher, I love the BLAME THE FRENCH section and I will probably find a way to incorporate what I learned into my teaching in some way.
Favorite Quote: “When it comes to language, we are creatures of habit and creatures of creativity. It seems those two forces would pull us in opposite directions, but we manage to have it all at once.”
Favorite Sections:
+ “The Colonel of Truth: What Is The Deal With The Word Colonel”
+ “Crazy English: Why Do We Drove on a Parkway and Park on a Driveway?
+ “Woe Is We: Why Is It Woe Is Me, Not I am Woe?”
+ “Asthma, Phlegm, and Diarrhea: Why All The Extra Letters?”
+ “If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Scramble It: Why Is There No Egg In Eggplant
As a French teacher, I love the BLAME THE FRENCH section and I will probably find a way to incorporate what I learned into my teaching in some way.
Favorite Quote: “When it comes to language, we are creatures of habit and creatures of creativity. It seems those two forces would pull us in opposite directions, but we manage to have it all at once.”
Favorite Sections:
+ “The Colonel of Truth: What Is The Deal With The Word Colonel”
+ “Crazy English: Why Do We Drove on a Parkway and Park on a Driveway?
+ “Woe Is We: Why Is It Woe Is Me, Not I am Woe?”
+ “Asthma, Phlegm, and Diarrhea: Why All The Extra Letters?”
+ “If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Scramble It: Why Is There No Egg In Eggplant
April 7, 2022
Writing a review of this book is really hard!
Highly Irregular is about the irregularities in English. A sort of 'getting the drains up' book on all the things we take for granted as native English speakers. I could also say it was a sort of 'Everything you always wanted to know about the English language / linguistics and were afraid to ask. ....but you did ask, sort of' .
An interesting book which must have taken a great deal of work to write. That makes it impressive. For me, it verged on the tedious in the occasional place but then there'd be something that caught your interest again plus those amusing diagrams. The writing style also kept me going as I chipped away through another chapter..
A good and interesting read but you feel that, reading, speaking and writing as a native British English speaker, some of it was a little heavy going. All the same, if language and linguistics intrigues you, it's a worthwhile book to dive into. Set me thinking in lots of places.....
Highly Irregular is about the irregularities in English. A sort of 'getting the drains up' book on all the things we take for granted as native English speakers. I could also say it was a sort of 'Everything you always wanted to know about the English language / linguistics and were afraid to ask. ....but you did ask, sort of' .
An interesting book which must have taken a great deal of work to write. That makes it impressive. For me, it verged on the tedious in the occasional place but then there'd be something that caught your interest again plus those amusing diagrams. The writing style also kept me going as I chipped away through another chapter..
A good and interesting read but you feel that, reading, speaking and writing as a native British English speaker, some of it was a little heavy going. All the same, if language and linguistics intrigues you, it's a worthwhile book to dive into. Set me thinking in lots of places.....
November 5, 2023
Language, and how it changes over time, fascinates me and this book does exactly that for English. It's written in a very approachable (no need to understand IPA or have a history degree) and highly engaging form. It's broken up into small chapters that can be read mostly independently but are arranged in roughly chronological order and thus set up for a good read-through front-to-back.
If you liked this book, I also highly recommend Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language for ways that English has continued to morph and evolve over the past decade thanks to the internet.
If you liked this book, I also highly recommend Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language for ways that English has continued to morph and evolve over the past decade thanks to the internet.
June 8, 2024
I have to admit I didn't get through this book....I thought it was going to be funny but it was very hard for me to understand. I don't know an adverb from a preposition so it was difficult to follow. It's a real learning experience. Much research was involved. The history of why we say things the way we do, where words come from, the things that are wrong.....it was all in this book. A lot of our language is from German and Vikings it seems. The author shows how words evolved from their origins to the words we use today....explaining the weird spelling some words ended up with...and why some letters are silent or have different sounds depending on circumstances....it's all very confusing. I think this is a very good book in learning about the English language ...it just wasn't something I could stick with or get through.
March 9, 2024
A collection of explanations on a number of questions about aspects of English that seem particularly odd. The questions (and answers) are interesting, the explanations are entertainingly as well as concisely written. Often, they are things that you would have a hard time just googling (I tried). The book is a quick read and there is no particular system or order to the topics covered, so the book doesn't even have to be read from beginning to end, one could just read the topics one finds most interesting. Although this was probably helpful to make it attractive to a general audience, it made it feel a bit random to me.
December 31, 2022
I wish I had picked up this book back when I was living with three linguists. It’s an accessible yet informative look at why English is the way that it is: that is, very weird. Along with the illustrations by Sean O’Neill, Okrent discusses topics such as why eggplants are called eggplants, how we ended up with so many homophones in English (hint: a linguistic war between French, Latin, Dutch, and a few others), and why phrasal verbs suck so hard for English learners. You’ll come out of it understanding English a bit better, even if it still annoys you sometimes.
July 9, 2024
Okrent is both witty and informative in this quirky, nerdy book. I found myself both thinking “Huh, I never thought about that” and “I have always wondered why that is!” throughout my reading experience. The content is beautifully organized and explained well. I found it a little dry at times (even as a linguist), and I think some of the mini lessons were interesting in the moment but won’t stick. If in the future I need to reference something I think I read in this book, I’ll probably just Google it. Will recommend to fellow language lovers!
December 17, 2024
I've been waiting for this book to be available in audio ever since hearing Arika's guest appearance on the The Puzzler podcast months ago.
I'm a word nerd from way back, so this book was a genuine pleasure. It gently informs online grammar warriors that the one thing language is guaranteed to do is change, so rigidly enforcing rules that other grammar constables made up 2 hundred years ago is, well... dumb.
It also explains why English is so dang complicated, and the diverse influences that landed us with a language in which noses run and feet smell.
August 28, 2021
A really fun book! I'd glanced across some of the content in other books and yet the author managed to bring fresh new insights to even those topics. From time to time my head was a'spinnin' from the etymological history, but that was rare and mostly I delighted in the history and detail provided. Like, seriously delighted. The wee art bits were like a cherry on top of the delightful sundae which this book was.
October 20, 2021
Very interesting and informative without being dry or technical. It made me unlikely to ever again criticize people for using a word or phrase “wrong”.
The book is comprised of short pieces on particular word and phrase origins and evolutions, which can stand alone and be read in straightforward or random order. Therefore some information and history is repeated often. But it does not take away from the quality of the book.
The book is comprised of short pieces on particular word and phrase origins and evolutions, which can stand alone and be read in straightforward or random order. Therefore some information and history is repeated often. But it does not take away from the quality of the book.
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