Case Sensitive: how english grammar got good

by Robert Jacobs

If people have been complaining about the slow demise of English grammar since the 16th century, how come the language isn't dead yet? Well, it turns out that people have a habit of confusing demise with evolution. In fact, it is this slow evolution and simplification of English grammar which has helped it to become the default international language of business, tourism, air traffic control, medicine, law and asking for directions to the toilet in a foreign city. So, how did this happen? Why doesn't English have male and female nouns like French and German? Why does English not have little éyèbrows, hålos, hâts, wãves, bŏwls, strøkes and döts above, below or even through its letters? Why is the opposite of ‘pee'd off’ not ‘pee'd on’? Why is it easier to recognise words in Western European languages than Eastern European ones? Why do we say ‘two feet’ and not ‘two foots’? And how is it that people seem to find it far easier to learn English than English-speakers find it to learn other languages?
Case Sensitive not only answers all of these questions but also allows the reader to disprove the most common complaints about incorrect grammar by putting it in its historical context: including naked, dancing fraudsters, a Frenchman who believed he was Jesus, and one Queen’s proof that – contrary to popular belief – words really can kill you. So, after learning what grammar actually is – namely, something we use every time we open our mouths to speak, without even realising it – you can decide for yourself whether the grammar pedants are justified in their moaning. In short, this is how English grammar got good.


Commonly referred to as a 'language mechanic', there is only one thing Robert Jacobs loves more than taking foreign languages apart and then putting them back together again to see precisely how they all work – and that is gummy bears. Born in London (UK), he took an interest in foreign languages from an early age and was particularly fascinated by grammar. Especially that we use it almost every minute of our lives, yet rarely understand it: as if everybody were able to do rocket-science yet be unable to explain how. Having witnessed the bad name that grammar gets amongst the population at large as a result of intimidatingly militant grammar-fanatics (whether human or computer), he aims to free English from the attacks it has to endure on a daily basis while simultaneously making people aware of the reason why our grammar is so amazing. And okay, it’s unlikely that grammar is ever going to be cool topic – but it ain’t half interesting!

185 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 24, 2016

Reviews

[Donna Snyder · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book on the development of modern English and grammatical usage. The book is not dry as one would think. The author has a good sense of humor.