Bad Language
Subtitle: Are Some Words Better than Others?
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: July 28, 2005
Language: eng
Number of pages: 240
ISBN-13: 9780195172485
First sentence: What does the phrase "bad language" mean to you?
Description: "Examining grammar and style, cursing, slang, political correctness, regional and ethnic dialects, and foreign accents and language mixing, Battistella discusses the strong feelings evoked by language variation, from objections to the pronunciation NU-cu-lar to complaints about bilingual education. He explains the natural desire for uniformity in writing and speaking and traces the association of mainstream norms to ideas about refinement, intelligence, education, character, national unity, and political values. Battistella argues that none of these qualities is inherently connected to language."--Jacket.