You need to be in the linguistic zone and feeling focussed if you want to get the most out of this engrossing read.Don’t Believe A Word is a real treat for any word nerd or writer. I did learn something good information and felt this is good for readers who like fun with the written language.If one has an interest in linguistics but not a solid understanding of the subject, this book provides a great overview. Of course young people break and remake language. (and least favorite) books on Goodreads. I became frustrated by her inability to accept anything at face value, looking behind every action for the ulterior motive, because there could have been so many more creative ways to prove her suspicions correct - I felt the author was trying to write a Perry Mason plot wherein every red herring is drawn across the plot only to find none of it is relevant to thIf you go through life second guessing (dare I say not believing?) “Adder,” “apron” and “umpire,” for example, were originally “nadder,” “napron” and “numpire.” Bird used to be “brid,” and “horse,” “hros,” transpositions of letters that later became the norm. Chomsky was the language guru who posited the theory that there had to be a inherited "language module" in human brains; that was the only thing that would explain how a baby could possibly acquire language skills in such an amazingly short period of time. Welcome back. Friends Who Liked This Quote. I liked this one, aspiring linguistics geek that I am. Considering how important language is, an awful lot of nonsense gets talked about it. As this is my third Patricia MacDonald book that has reviewed less than 2 stars, definitely not an author that would be placed on my recommend list and probably the last book of hers I wI found this book to be highly mediocre. Once the reader started to understand and maybe even believe that misconceptioA fascinating introduction to linguistics and psychology, even though the book is geared toward the general public rather than students or researchers. I highly recommend "Don't Believe A Word" by Patricia McDonald. We’ve got you covered with the buzziest new releases of the day. “Even though the idea that language is going to the dogs is widespread, nothing much has been done to mitigate it,” Shariatmadari writes. A harsh two stars, because he does a disservice to his interesting material (language). “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” Eden Radley, a book editor in New York, receives a call from her estranged mother in Cleveland, Ohio, but she ignores the call as they haven't been close since her mother left the family for a younger husband. “The simple mechanics of moving from a nasal sound (‘m’ or ‘n’) to a non-nasal one can make a consonant pop up in between” — in this case, the “p” sound we hear.Our bodies drive these changes, as do our yearnings for status and belonging. Although she had mixed feelings about her stepfather, she agreed to work with him on the book he had written of their live. In the meantime, Eden, the daughter, never had much to do with her mother; the mother had a child with her new husband who had a very serious illness; Katz-Ellison syndrome which is genetic and almost always fatal, with kids who suffer with it not living past their mid-teens.
“You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” “What proof do we have / that when I say “Don’t Believe a Word,” a new book by the Guardian writer and editor David Shariatmadari, delves into the riddles of language: the opacities, ambushes, dead ends, sudden ecstasies. Like I said, not a bad read, but not the kind of book that made me want to rush off and see if MacDonald has written anything else.I highly recommend "Don't Believe A Word" by Patricia McDonald. I found myself saying "yes, I get the point, move on" quite a few times. My favorite chapter was the disproving of "Italian is a language." I never particularly liked Eden (although I didn't particularly dislike her, either). turned out he was having a affair with his sister and his mother had killed his wife and son. Two things terrify me, faeries and psychotic minds. I am definitely still not clear on much of it but have been teased with a bit of knowledge, and may explore some more. Need another excuse to treat yourself to a new book this week? Don't Believe a Word is a perfect book for language-nerds and history buffs. Tell us what titles or genres you’ve enjoyed in the past, and we’ll give you surprisingly insightful recommendations. Share this quote: Like Quote. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The author kept me turning the pages because she created a main character I immediately came to care about and I had to find out how things would turn out for Eden and her family. Recommend to friends. John Berryman was much on my mind as I read this book: “Nouns, verbs do not exist for what I feel,” he wrote in “Epilogue.” So was Emily Dickinson’s splayed syntax and idiosyncratic punctuation, and the experimentations of Paul Celan, who once wrote to his wife from Germany: “The language with which I make my poems has nothing to do with one spoken here, or anywhere.”Nor does this book explore some of the knottier questions it so tantalizingly dangles.
In the book’s strongest section, Shariatmadari reveals how little the so-called guardians of the English language understand about English, let alone the particular innovations of AAVE, which linguists have described as a rule-bound language that has given us at least one new verb tense.The scope of “Don’t Believe a Word” is impressive. You’re in the right place.