The Lexicographer's Dilemma: The Evolution of 'Proper' English, from Shakespeare to South Park

By Jack Lynch

Book Overview

In its long history, the English language has had many lawmakers-those who have tried to regulate or otherwise organize the way we speak. The Lexicographer's Dilemma poses a pair of questions-what does proper English mean, and who gets to say what's right? Our ideas of correct or proper English have a history, and today's debates over the state of the language-whether about Ebonics in schools, the unique use of language in a South Park episode, or split infinitives in the Times -make sense only in historical context. As historian Jack Lynch has discovered, every rule has a human history, and the characters who populate his narrative are as interesting for their obsessions as for their erudition. Charting the evolution of English with wit and intelligence, he provides a rich historical perspective that makes us appreciate a new the hard-won standards we now enjoy.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802777694
• ISBN13: 9780802777690
• Release Date: November 2010
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.3" x 0.9" x 5.0"