Words on the Move: Why English Won’t—and Can’t—Sit Still (Like, Literally)

McWhorter (The Language Hoax) will make word snobs clutch their pearls and gasp in dismay as he convincingly argues that they should “shed the contempt: the acrid disgust so many people seem to harbor for people who use the forms [of language] we have been taught are ‘bad.’ ” McWhorter shows the mutability that lies at the core of all language, exploring words that transition from semantic to pragmatic use, the evolution of word meanings, words that become grammar, changes in pronunciation over time, and the ways words combine to form new words. Along the way he specifically addresses infamous irritants such as using “literally” figuratively, uptalk, and speech peppered with “like.” Contextualizing them in lexical history, McWhorter shows how they are similar to other changes we now take for granted (such as the evolution of the suffix -like into the common adverbial ending -ly). McWhorter employs a jocular style that makes for smooth reading, without sacrificing the complexity of the subject. Sometimes the humor is a bit stretched, but the overall effect is an unintimidating welcome to readers new to the subject that pleasantly relaxes the discourse of grammar propriety. Agent: Katinka Matson, Brockman. (Sept.)