The English Is Coming!: How One Language Is Sweeping the World

Although some 6,500 languages are now spoken around the world, there are more non-native speakers of English than native speakers. Dunton-Downer surveys the evolution English%E2%80%94Earth's common language%E2%80%94by examining more than 30 words that are now part of the global lexicon (including cookie, deluxe, disco, safari, shampoo, relax, robot, and taxi) and debating the sources and origins of such words as O.K. and jazz. She traces the usage of "stop" from 1920s telegrams and the octagonal red sign adopted throughout the U.S. in 1954 to 1978 when non-English speakers were introduced to "America's red geometry" by the Vienna Convention of Road Signs and Signals, adding a Motown connection with the palm-out signal used when performing "Stop! In the Name of Love." Similar pop culture references punctuate these scholarly essays that range from Indo-European linguistics to Internet acronyms. Dunton-Downer's probing, illuminating histories of words are educational, entertaining, and a delight to read. (Oct.)