This book aims to explain social variation in language, otherwise the
meaning and motivation of language change in its social aspect. It is
the expanded and improved 2nd edition of the author's self-published
volume with the same title, based on revised and adapted posts on the
author's Languagelore blog.
Each vignette calls attention to points of grammar and style in
contemporary American English, especially cases where language is
changing due to innovative usage. In every case where an analysis
contains technical or recondite vocabulary, a Glossary precedes the body
of the essay, and readers can also consult the Master Glossary which
contains all items glossed in the text.
The unique form of the book's presentation is aimed at readers who are
alert to the peculiarities of present-day American English as they
pertain to pronunciation, grammar, and style, without "dumbing down" or
compromising the language in which the explanations are couched.
Praise for the First Edition
"Michael Shapiro is one of the great thinkers in the realm of
linguistics and language use, and his integrated understanding of
language and speech in its semantic and pragmatic structure, grammatical
and historical grounding, and colloquial to literary stylistic variants
is perhaps unmatched today. This book is a treasure to be shared."
Robert S. Hatten, The University of Texas at Austin
"Jewel of a book. . . . a gift to us all from Michael Shapiro. Like a
Medieval Chapbook it can be a kind of companion whose vignettes on
language use can be randomly and profitably consulted at any moment.
Some may consider these vignettes opinionated. That would be to ignore
how deeply anchored each vignette is in Shapiro's long and rare polyglot
experience with language. It could well serve as a night table book,
taken up each night to read and reflect upon --to ponder--both in the
twilight mind and in the deeper reaches of associative somnolence. There
is nothing else like it that I know of." James W. Fernandez, The
University of Chicago
