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A Really Short History of Words

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Adapted from Mother Tongue this book by Bill Bryson tells the story of English, from the first words ever spoken to the very first dictionaries.

Perfect for ages 8 to 80!

Every day, you do something incredible, and I bet you barely ever think about it: you speak. But have you ever wondered why the English language turned out like it did?

If so, this is the book for you. It will also answer some VERY important questions . . .
Why do we have the Vikings to thank for words like glitter and sky?
Why did goodbye used to be god be with you?
Why did LOL originally mean little old ladies?
And why did no one know what majestic meant until Shakespeare came along?

In this epic journey through words, rhymes - and even a few jokes - Bill Bryson will teach you how the English language came to be (clue: lots of invasions) and what makes it a rich and beautiful thing (lots of Shakespeare).
Get ready . . . because the story of the English language is an EXTRAORDINARY one.

©2024 Bill Bryson (P)2024 Penguin Audio Activities & Hobbies Chapter Books & Readers Education & Learning Literature & Fiction Reading & Writing Funny
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I have always loved Bill Bryson's writing and was looking forward to this as my next listen. I was soon put off by the reader Joe Jameson pronouncing Ice cream as "I scream." To me one of the most irritating mispronunciations I know. I decided not to use up my one and only credit in case there was more of this to come

Put off early

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I usually like BB but this didn’t give much of interest and was pretty short. I have the feeling that maybe the author thought it a better topic at the beginning than the end of the project.

Disappointed

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Sorry, can't did myself of the idea that this is a bit of a fake. It feels very non BB, language isn't witty, observations aren't sharp, seems poorly researched.

Not very Bryson

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