Maybe you've been speaking English all your life, or maybe you learned
it later on. But whether you use it just well enough to get your daily
business done or you're an expert with a red pen who never omits a comma
or misplaces a modifier, you must have noticed that there are some
things about this language that are just weird.
Perhaps you're reading a book and stop to puzzle over absurd spelling
rules (Why are there so many ways to say "-gh"?), or you hear someone
talking and get stuck on an expression (Why do we say "How dare you" but
not "How try you"?), or your kid quizzes you on homework (Why is it "11
and 12" instead of "oneteen and twoteen"?). Suddenly you ask yourself,
"Wait, why do we do it this way?" You think about it, try to explain it,
and keep running into walls. It doesn't conform to logic. It doesn't
work the way you'd expect it to. There doesn't seem to be any rule at
all.
There might not be a logical explanation, but there will be an
explanation, and this book is here to help.
In Highly Irregular, Arika Okrent answers these questions and many
more. Along the way she tells the story of the many influences - from
invading French armies to stubborn Flemish printers - that made our
language the way it is today. Both an entertaining send-up of linguistic
oddities and a deeply researched history of English, Highly Irregular
is essential for anyone who has paused to wonder about our marvelous
mess of a language.
