Never enough words
Subtitle: how Americans invented expressions as ingenious, ornery, and colorful as themselves
By: Jeffrey McQuain.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Random House
Published: 1999
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 278
Subjects: English language -- United States -- Terms and phrases; English language -- United States -- Etymology; Figures of speech; Americanisms
Description: As Jeffrey McQuain illustrates in this history of the American language, there are Never Enough Words. Chronicling American English from its first deviations from the King's English to today's cyberlanguage, he delves into our linguistic history to show how a new American language was invented and re-invented over the centuries from colonial times to today. Along the way, he demonstrates for the first time how specific characteristic American traits are directly connected to the terms we have coined.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 264-267) and index.