Splendiferous Speech: How Early Americans Pioneered Their Own Brand of English

by Rosemarie Ostler

What does it mean to talk like an American? According to John Russell Bartlett’s 1848 Dictionary of Americanisms, it means indulging in outlandish slang— splendiferous, scrumptious, higgeldy piggedly —and free-and-easy word creation— demoralize, lengthy, gerrymander. American English is more than just vocabulary, though. It’s a picturesque way of talking that includes expressions like go the whole hog , and the wild boasts of frontiersman Davy Crockett, who claimed to be “half horse, half alligator, and a touch of the airthquake.” Splendiferous Speech explores the main sources of the American vernacular—the expanding western frontier, the bumptious world of politics, and the sensation-filled pages of popular nineteenth-century newspapers. It’s a process that started with the earliest English colonists (first word adoption—the Algonquian raccoon ) and is still going strong today. Author Rosemarie Ostler takes readers along on the journey as Americans learn to declare linguistic independence and embrace their own brand of speech. For anyone who wonders how we got from the English of King James to the slang of the Internet, it’s an exhilarating ride.

Genres: Nonfiction, Linguistics, Audiobook

272 pages, Paperback

Published November 6, 2018

About the author

Linguist and freelance writer Rosemarie Ostler loves exploring the rich record of American language use. Her latest book, The United States of English, tells the story of how the language of the colonists grew into the multiple Englishes that Americans speak today. Earlier books cover such diverse topics as the origins of our most common expressions and the centuries-long fight over what counts as proper grammar. Rosemarie lives in Eugene, Oregon.

Reviews

[Moonkiszt · Rating 4 out of 5]

English welcomes all comers. . .if we speakers of 'Merican Anglish, you know, speakin' the Virnackuler, find a frase from another shore that fits - or just about does - we will use it, adopt it, make it our very own.

This author starts off right at the very first word adopted: Raccoon. Thank you, Algonquian speakers. I've loved words since I could wrap my tongue around them, and this book has the added bonus of being historical words! I didn't realize how much of my family's old sayings sprang straight out of that Old Wise Guy, Davy Crockett, Frontiersman Aplenty. From him we got chip off the old block (house building was more in your face back in the day), bark up the wrong tree (days of hunting with dogs) and to be stumped (philosophical opining after a day of clearing the lot of the old growth).

Rosemarie Ostler uses as her language tour guide materials the 1848 work of the Word Guy Himself, John Russell Bartlett, and doesn't just show us the new words added to our language, but how existing "English" that we, the colonists, spoke was granted an "American" twist that changed words in ways that gets argued about to this very day: autumn becomes "fall" in America, angry becomes "mad", and in England just any grain has been referred to as corn, but now in America colonists, puritans and pioneers apply that term specifically to the tasty grain indigenous natives of this land call "maize."

This author squeezes history out of words as if she is squeezing sponges at a car wash. I loved every minute of this read!

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

SPLENDIFEROUS SPEECH: New Language for a New Land
http://fangswandsandfairydust.com/201...

The Who-What-Where-When-and-Hows about the development of American English.

I really enjoyed Splendiferous Speech by Rosemarie Ostler; it’s an easy-to-listen-to (but not dumbed-down) book about how and why American English developed. It may be written by a language specialist, but it is filled with anecdotes, and relevant links between history and language. The book doesn’t read like fiction, but is so engaging and conversational, that it is a fun listen. As I have been typing, I’m using many words created here in the US. The book is arranged from the beginning of American English, possibly, even, at Jamestown but it does not hold to strictly linear examples.

Ostler discusses how new experiences, animals, peoples require new words. Some people didn’t like our new words — how we turned nouns into verbs. It also looks at how Native Americans often provided the names of things new to the colonials — “Raccoon” probably derived from John Smith’s meeting up with a Algonquin chief wearing a “great Covering of Rahaughcums.“

As the country developed, pronunciation changed – not just on either side of the pond, but also regionally in America (Southern Accents, Bostonians dropping their “Rs”). I was amused by the etymology of a certain words came to exist because of a newspaper joke. I guess that’s no funnier than “friending” coming out of Facebook. The Lewis and Clark expedition brought many words, and Ostler notes how they decided upon names for new species.

The narration is both competent and engaged with good pronunciation. In a sense, it is a neutral narration as there are no characters, but Bennett is obviously interested in the book.

This is a well-researched explanation of how American language diverged and differs from British English. How could such an endeavor as the conquest of another land and the birth of a new, diverse country not result in changes to the language? Language is not dead, it is old and new, inventive and adaptive. This book brings it to life in an entertaining, and educational way. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys etymology, language, and history.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book, it has a lot of interesting etymological stories. I was thinking it was going to be a bit more like The Prodigal Tongue by Lynne Murphy, but it was less about the conflict in prestige between American and British English and more in depth about the development of many characteristically American phrases (and some phrases that are no longer used).

If you liked this book, you'd probably also like both The Prodigal Tongue and The History of English Podcast.

3.5 of 5 stars

[Samuel Banina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this one up on a fluke and really enjoyed it. It's short read and full of lots of fascinating word/idiom origin stories. Seeing how American English intertwined with American history and Americans evolving opinion of themselves helps put our current times in context as well. We're not really that removed from that era when something that happened to be printed in a book or newspaper in the early 1800s still influences how we communicate today. Would strongly recommend for fans of American history and the English language.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply said, this is great fun!! If you like the roots of language, you’ll love this book and then be able to annoy your friends and relatives by knowing the stories behind much of our slang!!!