The Miracle of Language

Ön Kapak
Pockets Books, 1991 - 254 sayfa

Master verbalist Richard Lederer, America's "Wizard of Idiom" "(Denver Post), presents a love letter to the most glorious of human achievements...

Welcome to Richard Lederer's beguiling celebration of language -- of our ability to utter, write, and receive words. No purists need stop here. Mr. Lederer is no linguistic sheriff organizing posses to hunt down and string up language offenders. Instead, join him "In Praise of English," and discover why the tongue described in Shakespeare's day as "of small reatch" has become the most widely spoken language in history:

"English never rejects a word because of race, creed, or national origin. Did you know that" jukebox "comes from Gullah and" canoe "from Haitian Creole?" "Many of our greatest writers have invented words and bequeathed new expressions to our eveyday conversations. Can you imagine making up almost ten percent of our written vocabulary? Scholars now know that William Shakespeare did just that!"

He also points out the pitfalls and pratfalls of English. If a man mans a station, what does a woman do? In the "The Department of Redundancy Department," "Is English Prejudiced?" and other essays, Richard Lederer urges us not to abandon that which makes us human: the capacity to distinguish, discriminate, compare, and evaluate.

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The Miracle of Language
3
How Do We Know What We Know?
11
In Praise of English
19
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Yazar hakkında (1991)

Richard Lederer, the well-known wordsmith, originally intended to practice medicine. He entered Haverford College as a pre-medical student, but when he realized that he was more interested in the textbooks' language than their substance, he switched his major to English. He next attended Harvard Law School, but again switched majors--this time entering Harvard's Master of Arts and Teaching program. After graduation, he taught English and media at St. Paul's School, in Concord, N.H., for 27 years. Upon earning his Ph.D. in English and Linguistics from the University of New Hampshire, he decided to pursue a career writing books on the English language. His first book, Anguished English, was a popular success and launched his career. His books, newspaper columns, and speaking engagements have allowed Lederer, in his own words, "to extend my mission of teachership." Lederer describes himself as a "verbivore" - one who consumes words. He says, "Carnivores eat meat; herbivores eat plants and vegetables; verbivores devour words." His fascination with word play (particularly, palindromes and puns) resulted in his nicknames--"Attila the Pun" and "Conan the Grammarian."

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