Language Myths, Mysteries and Magic

by Karen Stollznow

Can a bump on the head cause someone to speak with a different accent? Can animals, aliens, and objects talk? Can we communicate with gods, demons, and the dead? Language Myths, Mysteries and Magic is a curio shop full of colourful superstitions, folklore, and legends about language.

Genres: Occult

276 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Dr. Karen Stollznow is a linguist, author, and broadcaster whose work bridges scholarship and public engagement. Her books include Beyond Words: How We Learn, Use, and Lose Language; Bitch: The Journey of a Word; On the Offensive: Prejudice in Language Past and Present; Missed Conceptions: How We Make Sense of Infertility; God Bless America; Language Myths, Mysteries and Magic; and Haunting America. She is also the author of the short fiction collection Fisher’s Ghost and Other Stories.

She co-hosts the award-winning science podcast Monster Talk, contributes regularly to Psychology Today, Cambridge Core, and The Conversation, and has spent many years investigating anomalous claims through the lens of skepticism and science.

Karen holds a PhD in Linguistics and has taught at universities in both the United States and Australia. She previously worked as a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, and is currently a Visiting Scholar at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Born in Sydney, Australia, Karen now lives in Denver, Colorado, with her husband and their son.

Reviews

[Carla Suson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was not a book that I would normally read but it caught my interest quickly and held it. I've always believed in the power of words and, at it's heart, the book is all about that. The power is in the belief of how much a person accepts what is being said (curse or even a con letter) but the author goes beyond that to give histories and realities in how language is used, changed, and even misinterpreted. It was a lot of fun to read.