- 314 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About This Book
From an acclaimed linguist, " part travelogue, part memoir, and partmeditation on the intellectual and emotional underpinnings of language.... Priceless." ( Booklist) In this discursive jaunt through the groves and thickets of the English language, David Crystal creates an entertaining narrative account of his encounters with the language and its speakers. Woven from personal reflections, historical allusions, and observations of travelers, this fascinating journey through the language we use every day will have readers thinking twice about each word they speak. Starting in Wales and moving from England to San Francisco by way of, yes, Poland, Crystal encounters numerous linguistic side roads that he cannot resist exploring, from pubs to trains to Tolkien. Walking English is a captivating exploration of language by "one of England's greatest living language commentators." (The New Statesman) "In a conversational style that includes plenty of quirky facts, Crystal captures the exploratory, seductive, teasing, quirky, tantalizing nature of language study, and in doing so illuminates the fascinating world of words in which we live." — Publishers Weekly "An informative, transformative trip into the mysterious, mutating, magical thicket of English." ( Kirkus Reviews)
"Like passing the afternoon with a knowledgeable uncle." — The Wall Street Journal "The Dr. Johnson of our age." — The Sunday Herald "The book reads like a donnish Bill Bryson, a Bryson possessed with a maniacal passion for the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language!... [A] compelling guide." — Independent "Crystal proves an entertaining companion! It is pleasant to ramble with him along the byways of language." — The Tablet
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Table of contents
- COVER
- ALSO BY DAVID CRYSTAL
- COPYRIGHT
- DEDICATION
- CONTENTS
- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
- PREFACE
- MAP
- 1 By Hook or by Crook: GAERWEN
- 2 Making a Beeline: MENAI
- 3 We Want Information: PORTMEIRION
- 4 Where are You From?: WELSHPOOL
- 5 Good Evening, Each: BIRMINGHAM
- 6 Book-Browser Syndrome: HAY
- 7 Now Godiva was a Lady: LEOMINSTER
- 8 The Robot’s not Working: RISBURY
- 9 Who was Leonard Slye?: STRATFORD
- 10 Shall We Shog?: KOLKATA
- 11 A Rash of Dermatologists: ARDEN
- 12 A Wheelbarrow Called Wilberforce: LICHFIELD
- 13 How do You Like Your Eggs?: SAN FRANCISCO
- 14 My Husband is Without: LODZ
- 15 I’m Jack: LLANGOLLEN
- ON THE WAY: REFERENCES AND SOURCES
- INDEX OF PLACES
- INDEX OF PEOPLE AND CHARACTERS
- INDEX OF TOPICS