The Prodigal Tongue

January 29, 2018
Murphy, an American linguistics professor, longtime U.K. resident, and creator of the Separated by a Common Language blog, continues her investigation of the unique relationship between British and American English in this thoughtful, funny, and approachable book. Murphy frames the divide in terms of illness: the British are pathologically afflicted by “Amerilexicosis” (obsessive vitriol toward Americanisms in British English), while Americans neurotically suffer from “AVIC” (American verbal inferiority complex). Murphy uses the drama of these opposing anxieties to draw attention to grammatical minutiae and spelling differences and to explain esoteric linguistic concepts such as prototypes in terms of how bacon doesn’t refer to the same thing in the U.S. and the U.K. because “the set of properties that makes something supremely bacon-y” is different in each place. She also shares surprising factual tidbits—Oxford University Press’s British and American dictionary databases only overlap in 78% of their definitions—and revealing cultural divergences—saying ate as et is considered standard pronunciation in the U.K. but is often thought of as a trait of backwoods accents in the U.S. The book’s momentum comes from Murphy’s witty presentation, but its real power comes from its commitment to inquiry and its profound belief that “communication involves a million little acts of faith.” Agent: Daniel Conway, DHH Literary Agency.

February 15, 2018
What is it about Americans' way with words that makes Brits so angry? An American linguistics professor attempts to find out.Murphy (Linguistics/Univ. of Sussex), who lives in Britain and writes the blog Separated by a Common Language, hears frequent complaints "about the wrecking ball that is American English." In this book, she tries to understand how it became "Linguistic Public Enemy Number 1" and explains the phenomenon she calls amerilexicosis, "a pathologically unhinged reaction to American English." As the author notes, many American phrases that proponents of British English detest come from Britain. The earliest uses of "might of," considered an American monstrosity, "have been found in letters sent in England in the 1770s." Murphy covers all the greatest linguistic hits--e.g., the -or/-our divide in words like "color"--but she tends to generalize: not every American or Brit speaks as she describes. Some of her examples, even in the service of legitimate points, leave room for debate. The author defends the supposedly American practice of turning nouns into verbs by writing, "people are tasked with doing things because that's shorter than giving someone the task of doing something." One might respectfully argue that "he asked me to clean my room" is shorter and better than "I've been tasked with cleaning my room." But perhaps that speaks to Murphy's thesis: English is full of inconsistencies and pitfalls, and no single set of standards is necessarily superior. This is an entertaining work that defends English's so-called Americanization, and the author has a delightfully sardonic style, as when she tells Brits, "Americans call your football soccer because you taught them to....Soccer came from the full name of the game, association football. The word comes from England. You should be proud of it. There, that feels better."A passionate defense (or is it defence?) of the "fantastically flexible medium" that is English.

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April 1, 2018

In this delightful and highly readable and informative book, American-born, UK-based linguist Murphy (linguistics, Univ. of Sussex) outlines the tug and pull, jealousies, and rivalries of the English language on both sides of the pond. Is American English corrupting the "King's English" or is America "saving" the language and enhancing it? Murphy's analysis of how "fall" came into American usage as an alternative to the French "autumn" is one of many detailed examples of the symbiotic relationship between American and British English. Filled with wit and amusing asides, this well-researched, well-documented text often shows that American English is actually preserving its British cousins' linguistic origins. The difference between the "Queen's English," "Proper" English, and "Received" English is contrasted to "Standard American English." Murphy's analyses are well argued and often very amusing; her investigation of British vs. American pronunciations are particularly insightful. VERDICT Highly recommended both to students of linguistics and general readers interested in language and culture.--Herbert E. Shapiro, Lifelong Learning Soc., Florida Atlantic Univ., Boca Raton

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