Language is always changing -- and we tend not to like it. We understand that new words must be created for new things, but the way English is spoken today rubs many of us the wrong way. Whether it’s the use of literally to mean “figuratively” rather than “by the letter,” or the way young people use LOL and like, or business jargon like What’s the ask? -- it often seems as if the language is deteriorating before our eyes.
But the truth is different and a lot less scary, says John McWhorter, in his new book "Words on the Move: Why English Won’t and Can’t Sit Still (Like, Literally)" which explores how English has always been in motion and continues to evolve today. Drawing examples from everyday life, he shows that these shifts are a natural process common to all languages, and that we should embrace and appreciate these changes, not condemn them.
In “Words on the Move” McWhorter reveals the surprising backstories to the words and expressions we use every day. Did you know that silly once meant “blessed”? Or that ought was the original past tense of owe? Or that the suffix -ly in adverbs is actually a remnant of the word like? And have you ever wondered why some people from New Orleans sound as if they come from Brooklyn?
McWhorter encourages us to marvel at the dynamism and resilience of the English language, and to see that words are ever on the move and our lives are all the richer for it.
John McWhorter teaches linguistics, philosophy, and music history at Columbia University, and writes for various publications on language issues and race issues such as Time, the Wall Street Journal, the Daily Beast, CNN, and the Atlantic. He told his mother he wanted to be a "book writer" when he was five, and is happy that it worked out.
