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The English is Coming!: How One Language is Sweeping the World
English has fast become the number one language for everything from business and science, diplomacy and education, entertainment and environmentalism to socializing and beyond—virtually any human activity unfolding on a global scale. Worldwide, nonnative speakers of English now outnumber natives three to one; and in China alone, more people use English than in the United States—a remarkable feat for a language that got its start as a mongrel tongue on an island fifteen hundred years ago.
Through the fascinating stories of thirty English words used and understood in nearly all corners of the globe, The English Is Coming! takes readers on an eye-opening journey across culture and commerce, war and peace, and time and space. These mini-histories shed new light on everyday the strange turns of fate by which their meanings evolved and their new roles as the building blocks of the first language ever to forge a global community.
Exploring such familiar terms as shampoo (from a Hindi word for scalp and body hygiene long practiced in India); robot (coined by Czech painter Josef Capek for his brother Karel’s 1921 play about man-made creatures); credit (rooted in a prehistoric phrase of sacred "to put heart into"); and dozens of others, Dunton-Downer reveals with clarity and humor how these linguistic artifacts embody the resilience, appeal, adoptability, and wild inclusiveness that English, through a series of historical accidents, gained on its road to worldwide reach. These words explain not only how English has managed to link our distant and often disparate pasts but also how it is propelling humankind to a future that we can, for the first time, talk about and shape in a language that now belongs to all of Global English.
Perfect for culture buffs, armchair travelers, and language lovers alike, The English Is Coming! is sure to inspire truly global conversations for decades to come.
Through the fascinating stories of thirty English words used and understood in nearly all corners of the globe, The English Is Coming! takes readers on an eye-opening journey across culture and commerce, war and peace, and time and space. These mini-histories shed new light on everyday the strange turns of fate by which their meanings evolved and their new roles as the building blocks of the first language ever to forge a global community.
Exploring such familiar terms as shampoo (from a Hindi word for scalp and body hygiene long practiced in India); robot (coined by Czech painter Josef Capek for his brother Karel’s 1921 play about man-made creatures); credit (rooted in a prehistoric phrase of sacred "to put heart into"); and dozens of others, Dunton-Downer reveals with clarity and humor how these linguistic artifacts embody the resilience, appeal, adoptability, and wild inclusiveness that English, through a series of historical accidents, gained on its road to worldwide reach. These words explain not only how English has managed to link our distant and often disparate pasts but also how it is propelling humankind to a future that we can, for the first time, talk about and shape in a language that now belongs to all of Global English.
Perfect for culture buffs, armchair travelers, and language lovers alike, The English Is Coming! is sure to inspire truly global conversations for decades to come.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published September 14, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
September 19, 2012
It's an interesting read for anyone who is curious about the history or future of the English language, or for anyone who wants a better understanding of how languages evolve. The author proves herself to be extremely knowledgable.
However, the book ends on a sore note with the far-fetched predictions in the final chapter on how the English language might change. Sure it will change substantially, but the author is dreaming up some pretty wild guesses here. She forgets to take into account that English language users have a discriminating ear for the language. Yes, something that sounds awkward in the beginning can sound natural in no time, but particles and grammar that sound outright alien will never get their foot in the door, so speak. They will be immediately rejected by English speakers and never catch on. And even if native English speakers are outnumbered by nonnative English speakers around the world, it's still the native speakers who will hold more influence as gatekeepers of the language in their roles as writers, media makers, editors, teachers, creators and compilers of style guides and reference books, etc.
I think the author also failed to consider how modern mass media can work as a force that preserves the language. I was waiting for a chapter on that, but it never came. Throughout the ages, when most changes in the English took place, 99.99% all utterances occurred face to face. No sooner was a sentence spoken than it was erased from existence.
Today books, internet, movies, television, music, and other printed and recorded media model the language for us in ways that will snap us back when our tongues start to stray from these norms. That is not to say that mass media will prevent English from evolving. We know that its far-reaching effects can be a catalyst for new expressions or ways of speaking. But what role does an interconnected planetary media play in conserving the language? Surely the question deserves an exploration in this book.
Despite this book's flaws, its still a worthwhile read for language lovers.
However, the book ends on a sore note with the far-fetched predictions in the final chapter on how the English language might change. Sure it will change substantially, but the author is dreaming up some pretty wild guesses here. She forgets to take into account that English language users have a discriminating ear for the language. Yes, something that sounds awkward in the beginning can sound natural in no time, but particles and grammar that sound outright alien will never get their foot in the door, so speak. They will be immediately rejected by English speakers and never catch on. And even if native English speakers are outnumbered by nonnative English speakers around the world, it's still the native speakers who will hold more influence as gatekeepers of the language in their roles as writers, media makers, editors, teachers, creators and compilers of style guides and reference books, etc.
I think the author also failed to consider how modern mass media can work as a force that preserves the language. I was waiting for a chapter on that, but it never came. Throughout the ages, when most changes in the English took place, 99.99% all utterances occurred face to face. No sooner was a sentence spoken than it was erased from existence.
Today books, internet, movies, television, music, and other printed and recorded media model the language for us in ways that will snap us back when our tongues start to stray from these norms. That is not to say that mass media will prevent English from evolving. We know that its far-reaching effects can be a catalyst for new expressions or ways of speaking. But what role does an interconnected planetary media play in conserving the language? Surely the question deserves an exploration in this book.
Despite this book's flaws, its still a worthwhile read for language lovers.
March 21, 2013
3 stars for the tremendous amount of research that went into this book, but not for how much I enjoyed reading it. Very dry at points, and there is only so much language-lover humor that I can handle in one sitting. At many points, this book became redundant. It just repeated itself over and over again, quite redundantly ;-)
Plus, I found the author's guesses about possible future changes to the language quite silly. However, her ideas on ways that English could be simplified (without adding foreign words) seemed plausible and likely. As an ESL teacher in Korea, I've wished many times that certain irregularities were done away with. Adding S to third-person singular verbs for example. Perhaps, English will simplify to loose this grammar regularity. I can also imagine loosing the 's to make nouns possessive and a loss of the indefinite article 'a'. Also, I could imagine an international simplified spelling of English. (although reading examples of what this may look like always gives me headaches)
Plus, I found the author's guesses about possible future changes to the language quite silly. However, her ideas on ways that English could be simplified (without adding foreign words) seemed plausible and likely. As an ESL teacher in Korea, I've wished many times that certain irregularities were done away with. Adding S to third-person singular verbs for example. Perhaps, English will simplify to loose this grammar regularity. I can also imagine loosing the 's to make nouns possessive and a loss of the indefinite article 'a'. Also, I could imagine an international simplified spelling of English. (although reading examples of what this may look like always gives me headaches)
September 19, 2011
A fascinating journey of where English came from as a language, where it is now, and perhaps from this where Global English is heading.
May 18, 2018
This lively and informative account of the origins and development of the English language is written so fluently and well that one can read the entire work in a single sitting, which is definitely not what one can say about many works of nonfiction. The field of Linguistics has always appeared to be somewhat daunting to the non-academic, but Leslie Dunton-Downer’s smooth-flowing and vibrant text conveys profound insights into the etymologies of more than 30 words in such a way that she makes her comprehensive explanation easily accessible to all.
In place of dry academic pedantries, Dunton-Downer uses amusing anecdotes and imagined scenarios to illustrate the significant points that she makes about the English language. Her example of “anthropomorphized artichokes, some smiling cheerfully, as if eager to be ripped from their native fields, taken in a car to some strange house, steamed in a pot, and devoured” on hand-painted billboards that first helped to prickle her interest in language is an example of such. She also asks several leading questions that should have you thinking far beyond the parameters of The English is Coming!: How One Language is Sweeping the World. Examples of such questions are: “What is global culture like? What could it become within a generation?”
The readability of The English is Coming! was clearly a key factor in the writing of this text. A full-out effort is made to avoid any distractions to the general flow of the narrative. Full-page figures are used to illustrate key points in the text, with relatively minor points being elucidated in footnotes and endnotes, and with there being a comprehensive index.
For anyone who is interested in the field of Sociolinguistics, this work is a gem. The way in which Dunton-Downer traces the history of such words and expressions as ‘credit card,’ ‘cookie’ and ‘lol’ could serve as useful examples of how undergraduate students can set about undertaking their own research in the field. The English is Coming!: How One Language is Sweeping the World should make ideal reading for all Linguistics college courses. The target audience for the book is most definitely the lay person, with all of the facts that the author presents having as a key focus the interest that they are likely to arouse in the average reader. I, personally, was fascinated by the work from start to finish, and am all the prouder now that I am a home speaker of such a rich and varied language, which has countless opportunities for future expansion.
In place of dry academic pedantries, Dunton-Downer uses amusing anecdotes and imagined scenarios to illustrate the significant points that she makes about the English language. Her example of “anthropomorphized artichokes, some smiling cheerfully, as if eager to be ripped from their native fields, taken in a car to some strange house, steamed in a pot, and devoured” on hand-painted billboards that first helped to prickle her interest in language is an example of such. She also asks several leading questions that should have you thinking far beyond the parameters of The English is Coming!: How One Language is Sweeping the World. Examples of such questions are: “What is global culture like? What could it become within a generation?”
The readability of The English is Coming! was clearly a key factor in the writing of this text. A full-out effort is made to avoid any distractions to the general flow of the narrative. Full-page figures are used to illustrate key points in the text, with relatively minor points being elucidated in footnotes and endnotes, and with there being a comprehensive index.
For anyone who is interested in the field of Sociolinguistics, this work is a gem. The way in which Dunton-Downer traces the history of such words and expressions as ‘credit card,’ ‘cookie’ and ‘lol’ could serve as useful examples of how undergraduate students can set about undertaking their own research in the field. The English is Coming!: How One Language is Sweeping the World should make ideal reading for all Linguistics college courses. The target audience for the book is most definitely the lay person, with all of the facts that the author presents having as a key focus the interest that they are likely to arouse in the average reader. I, personally, was fascinated by the work from start to finish, and am all the prouder now that I am a home speaker of such a rich and varied language, which has countless opportunities for future expansion.
August 4, 2018
There were some fascinating parts of this book, but I found it very uneven. Each chapter would begin with a narrative about the English language, from its history to its evolution to its potential future. Then there would be smaller sections each about a specific English word. Some of these were interesting, while others seemed a bit random (I didn't really need to know about LOL or bikini). I think it messed with the flow, and I found myself rushing through these parts to get back to the narrative, which I did enjoy. It is a shame because the book is obviously well researched, just not executed as well.
August 12, 2024
Starts strong, I am a sucker for etymological exploration or grammatical analysis especially in international uses of this wonderful tongue, even for stuff I’ve read 4 times before, but the speculation for a future English is just awkward. I understand having fun with the concept but it just throws off the vibe.
June 8, 2021
It's an okay book. It has lots of interesting tidbits, though it also has some errors. Corrections for some of the most glaring ones: Celtic is never EVER pronounced with a soft c, singular they has been around since the 1300s, not just since the feminist movement, and just because a language isn't written and taught formally doesn't mean it doesn't have rules of grammar. I do love the charming title, though.
November 1, 2010
Despite the apparent poor grammar of the title--it really isn't since English refers to the language, not the people--this is a fantastic book for a word-lover. Not only does the author go through the history of the English language but she also chooses 30 everyday words and shows their history and how they were adapted into our current speech. And since English is now the most commonly spoken language throughout the world, even in China, which means that there are more non-native English speakers than native ones, she uses the last chapter as an example of how the language may change in the future based on how it has changed so recently through internet and Twitter spellings. Highly recommended!
April 1, 2013
A fun read for the logophile. While reading, I found myself more interested in the history of certain words than the idea of a global English or conjectures on what this global English might be like. Other reviewers are correct: this book is repetitive. The final chapter had so many similar paragraphs I found myself skimming. She definitely could have finished stronger. However, most of the book was entertaining and read rather quickly. This is not a waste of time. Informed author with a worshipful eye on language. Cute.
January 2, 2011
This book was okay; I found it quite uneven as far as holding my interest. Some sections were very interesting, and I will happily acknowledge this; others seriously dragged, at least for me, and I had a hard time finishing the final section of "predictions" (really more like wild guesses) about how English may change in the future (though I did finish it eventually). I am always on the lookout for fun books about the English language, but I have read more enjoyable ones than this.
April 10, 2011
Not at all what I was expecting. The "word histories" were an odd mix of esoteric academic vocabulary and folksy breezy writing style. The thought experiment of the future of Global English was too drawn out to maintain my interest, and again littered with attempts at folksy style and personal opinions. I'm mailing it back to Karlene!!!!
August 24, 2013
I found this book to be fascinating. I learned so much... But like so many other readers, I thought it just got weird when she stared talking about the future of the language - with specifics. I know it was hypothetical, and she clearly presented it as such, but the specific nature of it threw me off.
May 4, 2012
Entertaining, as my cover blurb states, but hardly suspenseful as it also suggests. Perhaps I have read too many of these types of books and simply want more interesting conjecturing on where English is actually going.
May 26, 2011
Pretty interesting if you like reading about the history of words and language, and enjoy a few jokes thrown in here and there.
February 7, 2014
too boring to finish
September 19, 2011
one of those 'hungry-for-more-of-the-same-though-not-necessarily-by-the-same-author' situations...
January 9, 2013
The format was tedious and the subject matter interesting but not all that compelling.
May 17, 2013
I should have loved this book, I usually adore this type of books. Instead I found it rather boring and often flipped ahead a couple of pages when it dragged spectacularly.
June 15, 2014
It was boring at times, but mostly really interesting!
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews