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Nine Nasty Words: English in the Gutter by John McWhorter
Category: Reference Dictionaries Words
The New York Times bestseller now in paperback. One of the preeminent linguists of our time examines the realms of language that are considered shocking and taboo in order to understand what imbues curse words with such power--and why we love them so much. Profanity has always been a deliciously vibrant ...Show more
Nine Nasty Words - English in the Gutter: Then, Now, and Forever by John McWhorter
Category: Languages and Reference
Profanity has always been a deliciously vibrant part of our lexicon, an integral part of being human. In fact, our ability to curse comes from a different part of the brain than other parts of speech--the urgency with which we say "f&*k!" is instead related to the instinct that tells us to flee from ...Show more
Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English by John McWhorter
Category: Reference
A survey of the quirks and quandaries of the English language, focusing on our strange and wonderful grammar Why do we say aI am reading a cataloga instead of aI read a cataloga? Why do we say adoa at all? Is the way we speak a reflection of our cultural values? Delving into these provocative topics and ...Show more
The Language Hoax: Why the World Looks the Same in Any Language by John H. McWhorter
Category: Culture
Japanese has a term that covers both green and blue. Russian has separate terms for dark and light blue. Does this mean that Russians perceive these colors differently from Japanese people? Does language control and limit the way we think? This short, opinionated book addresses the Sapir-Whorf hypothesi ...Show more
The Power of Babel - A Natural History of Language by John McWhorter
Category: History
There are approximately six thousand languages on Earth today, each a descendant of the tongue first spoken by Homo sapiens some 150,000 years ago. While laying out how languages mix and mutate over time, linguistics professor John McWhorter reminds us of the variety within the species that speaks them, ...Show more
Woke Racism by John McWhorter
Category: Languages and Reference
Bestselling author and acclaimed linguist John McWhorter argues that an illiberal neoracism, disguised as antiracism, is hurting black communities and weakening the social fabric.
Woke Racism - How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America by John McWhorter
Category: Politics
Acclaimed linguist and award-winning writer John McWhorter argues that an illiberal neoracism, disguised as antiracism, is hurting Black communities and weakening the American social fabric. Americans of good will on both the left and the right are secretly asking themselves the same question: how h ...Show more
Woke Racism - How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America by John McWhorter
Category: World
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER New York Times bestselling author and acclaimed linguist John McWhorter argues that an illiberal neoracism, disguised as antiracism, is hurting Black communities and weakening the American social fabric.Americans of good will on both the left and the right are secretly asking t ...Show more
Words on the Move - Why English Won't - and Can't - Sit Still (Like, Literally) by John McWhorter
Category: Reference
Language is always changing, but the way English is spoken today rubs many of us the wrong way. Whether it's the use of literally to mean "figuratively," or the way young people use LOL or business jargon like What's the ask?--it often seems as if the language is deteriorating before our eyes.But the tr ...Show more
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