Lover’s Tongue
Morton, M. S. (2003). The lover’s tongue: a merry romp through the language of love and sex. Toronto, Insomniac Press.
A look at the language of romance and sex.
Anatomy of Swearing
Montagu, A. (2001). The anatomy of swearing. Philadelphia, PA, University of Pennsylvania Press.
A classic study of bad language.
Predicting New Words
Metcalf, A. A. (2002). Predicting new words: the secrets of their success. Boston, Houghton Mifflin.
Discussion of why some new words succeed and others fail and fade away.
Doing Our Own Thing
McWhorter, J. H. (2003). Doing our own thing: the degradation of language and music and why we should, like, care. New York, Gotham Books.
A look at whether or not (actually not) language is degrading.
Word On The Street
McWhorter, J. H. (2000). The word on the street: debunking the myth of “pure” standard English. Cambridge, Mass., Perseus Pub.
An excellent look at exactly what, if anything, constitutes “proper” English.
Copyright 1997-2007, by David Wilton
