A Really Short History of Words: An illustrated edition of the bestselling book about the English language

by Emma Young (Adapter), Bill Bryson (Original Book), Daniel Long (Illustrator)

Adapted from Mother Tongue this stunningly illustrated 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 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 ( 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.

Genres: Nonfiction, Audiobook, History, Language, Words

130 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 17, 2024

About the author

Emma Young is an award-winning science and health journalist and author. She has a BSc (Hns) in psychology from the University of Durham and 20 years’ experience working on titles including the Guardian, the Sydney Morning Herald and New Scientist, for which she worked as a senior online reporter in London and Australasian Editor in Sydney. Now employed by the British Psychological Society as a Staff Writer, she also writes freelance articles and books.

Reviews

[EmG ReadsDaily]

An extraordinary exploration of the English language

[Rachel Singelenberg]

Finished it as an audiobook. Lovely told and really nice to learn more about how our language came to exist.

[Emily]

I listened to this on Audible.

This is a lovely short book, a whistlestop tour, of the English language, from development out of Anglo Saxon to the modern language we have today. He looks at the differences between the dialects and creoles spoken in various countries around the world. It's an interesting story. I think I was familiar with a lot of it already but some aspects were new to me. If you are interested in where words come from and why they are spelled like they are, this is a book for you. Enjoy.

[Mehsi]

This was such an interesting and gorgeously illustrated book! I learned some new things!

[Rebecca Fung]

I enjoyed this thoroughly. It seems aimed at children but it's a lot of fun for adults, being a quick whirl through the English language and there's plenty of bits and pieces most adults wouldn't have come across. I enjoyed piecing together the history and I see it as a good way to introduce children to many quirks of English (and other languages) and get them interested in reading further.

The illustrations really enhance the text and make it fun and accessible.

[Clare Kirwan]

3.5 I hadn’t realised this is really a children's introduction to language and much of it was general knowledge, but still some very interesting roots of words now considered part of the English language. There are benefits and disbenefits of reading it as audio - helps with the sounds but not the spellings! 😂

[Sophie Laws]

Expected more detail and info from Bill Bryson. Short sections of interest, but they stop just as they get my attention.
Eaudiobook narrator not great. Bill Bryson narrating would have been so much better. 1 star as an adult book, but could go to 3 as a children's book

[Helen]

nice short read (audiobook) and very interesting. listened with my 9 year old

[Susan Farr]

Didn’t get 5 stars as the Australian content was somewhat inaccurate IMO. I hope the rest was accurate.

Enjoyable, entertaining and informative.

[Sarah Loft]

Fascinating. Lots of interesting (and sometimes even helpful) things to learn.

[Amber]

A quick and interesting read.

[Heidi]

A fascinating look at the history of the English language in Bill Bryson's signature funny way. A great fast read to start of our school year!!

[Sharon Green]

3/5

[Courtney]

Interesting short delve into the history of the English language.

[Helen Blunden]

Audiobook. Didn’t realise it was for young adults. Nevertheless educational.

[James Brixey]

A thoroughly enjoyable little history book, with some fun linguistic titbits.
Most of it already known to me, but still good.

[Elaine]

A very quick and easy read into the history of words in the English, and English diaspora - from it's European influences through to the influences from countries that were colonised by the Brits.