The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way by Bill Bryson.
It’s from the 1990s, however, so no discussion of newer “features” and usage.
freerangelibrarian on
Maybe not exactly what you have in mind, but I really enjoyed Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper.
Bungalow-1908 on
Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue by John McWhorter. Definitely not dry.
Wizard_with_a_Pipe on
The story of language by Mario Pei. I have read it multiple times. It was a great read.
YodaTheCoder on
The Elements of Eloquence: How To Turn the Perfect English Phrase by Mark Forsyth. Not linguistics but rhetoric. Entertaining and educational, I highly recommend the audiobook.
PeteyMcPetey on
Elements of Eloquence.
I like it even better on Audiobook, I listen to it on long road trips. So if it’s good enough to not put me to sleep there, I think it’ll do fine for ya lol.
heck-ward on
The Etymologicon by Mark Forsyth.
EDIT: read this one years ago at the suggestion of an Apple Genius (lol), not dry at all, very accessible
8 Comments
because the internet by Gretchen McCullough!!!
The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way by Bill Bryson.
It’s from the 1990s, however, so no discussion of newer “features” and usage.
Maybe not exactly what you have in mind, but I really enjoyed Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper.
Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue by John McWhorter. Definitely not dry.
The story of language by Mario Pei. I have read it multiple times. It was a great read.
The Elements of Eloquence: How To Turn the Perfect English Phrase by Mark Forsyth. Not linguistics but rhetoric. Entertaining and educational, I highly recommend the audiobook.
Elements of Eloquence.
I like it even better on Audiobook, I listen to it on long road trips. So if it’s good enough to not put me to sleep there, I think it’ll do fine for ya lol.
The Etymologicon by Mark Forsyth.
EDIT: read this one years ago at the suggestion of an Apple Genius (lol), not dry at all, very accessible