Title: Made in America (Goodreads)
Author: Bill Bryson
Published: Avon, 1994
Pages: 415
Genres: Non-Fiction
My Copy: eBook
Buy: Amazon (or visit your local Indie bookstore)
Although I don’t live in America, it is obvious that they have had a big influence on the English language. Bill Bryson’s Made In America explores the history of America and the effects it had on the language. I found the most interesting parts to do with censorship in America, from titbit becoming tidbit, cockroach becoming roach and to the extreme case of political correction which wanted to stop the use of terms like blackeye and blacksmith (but interestingly enough, not blackout). I feel I’ve gained some valuable insight into why American English is different to the commonly used Queens’ English, while getting a history into commonly used terms. Bill Bryson writes in such a way that it makes this book easy to read and at times humorous, which I feel is what you want in a Non Fiction book.
It’s a great book. Now you need the book that spawned it Mother Tongue and you’ll see how much Australian borrows from both UK and US English.
Don’t worry I will be reading that book soon
I had not heard of this book, but it sounds fascinating. As a fellow logophile, I will have to read it. Word geeks unite!
Bill Bryson is defiantly the man for the job then.
Mother Tongue maybe the better choice.
Cockroach becoming roach?
*snort*
The things people worry about… good grief!
American censorship is weird
I don’t know how to speak anything but American English, and I call a cockroach a cockroach. (Actually, if I see one I scream it.) Maybe I am showing my age, but to me just plain “roach” conjures up connotations of reefer culture.