The Story of English in 100 Words by David Crystal

This playful book,The Story of English in 100 Words covers the newest and earliest words in the English language with widely varying spellings as the first writers attempted to translate the spoken word into writing.  Eventually dictionaries worked to standardize the spelling to allow people to comprehend what others were writing.  I liked one of the original spellings of rhubarb "rewbarb".  The author suggests that the 'h' in rhubarb may eventually disappear at least based on the change in frequency of Google searches.

The English language is especially adaptable developing many portmanteau (Wikipedia) words like Spork: (spoon + fork).  The author also extols the virtue of pigeon English as the language has developed ways of differentiating between the singular and plural you.  Some colloquial speech in the US solves this with Y'all, or Yous to indicate more than one person.

The author sets aside a whole chapter on the intense dislike of the word 'aint'.  He covers the broad utility of the word and leaves me to wonder why it has caused such a fuss. 

I enjoyed the section on the development of group names.  Groups of animals used to be referred to as herds.  Then creativity set in and we now have a "murder of crows" and a "gaggle of geese".  It can be a form of wordplay to invent names for various groups or occupations.  The author includes a list in the book.  My short list.  Feel free to share yours.

• A deposit of bankers
• A cavity of dentists
• A brief of lawyers
• A flash of paparazzi
• A conflagration of fire inspectors

David Crystal - Pragmatics allows you to answer the question. Why? - 3 min.