The Use of English

by Randolph Quirk

Genres: Nonfiction, Language

370 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1968

About the author

Quirk was born at Lambfell, in Michael on the Isle of Man, the son of Thomas and Amy Randolph Quirk. He attended King William's College on the Isle of Man and then went to University College London to read English under Albert Hugh Smith. His studies began in 1939 but were interrupted by the war in 1940, to be completed from 1945 to 1947. He was awarded MA, PhD, and D.Lit and became a lecturer in English at UCL from 1947 to 1954. He was also a Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellow, at Yale and Michigan from 1951 to 1952. In 1954 he became Reader at the University of Durham, becoming Professor there in 1958. He returned to UCL as Professor in 1960 and in 1968 succeeded Smith as Quain Professor, a post he held until 1981.
Quirk lectured and taught seminars at University College, London, in Old English (Anglo-Saxon) and in History of the English Language. These two disciplines were part of a ten-discipline set of Final examinations in the undergraduate syllabus. At that time, Old and Middle English, along with History of the English Language, were all compulsory subjects. He also worked closely with A.C. Gimson and J.D. O'Connor of the Phonetics Department, sitting in as an examiner for Phonetics oral examinations on occasion.

Reviews

[Ruthie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clearing out my bookcases because my father recently died, and it was quite a burden doing it for his books. So, finally finding the courage to let go of university books.
26 June 2025 - although I'm slapping a fictional date on this so it doesn't show up as a book I've read this year.

[Smiley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought in 1990, this book has since challenged me to reach my reading goal since I know Professor Randolph Quirk by means of his writings and books, reading his works with awe and respect. My random reading was a bit off and on whenever I had my free time, I was happy with my completion of five chapters as follows, another almost finished and left it at that for years.

Chapter 3 The Dress of Thought?
4 Language as Servant and Master
7 Nonsense and Learning [almost finished]
13 Problems of Usage
14 Style and Purpose
15 The Intolerable Wrestle with Words