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The prodigal tongue: the love-hate relationship between British and American English

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posted on 2023-06-09, 08:48 authored by Lynne MurphyLynne Murphy
Do you eat mashed potato or mashed potatoes? Are you frowning with your eyebrows or your mouth? Did you need to google mugwump when Boris Johnson laid into Jeremy Corbyn? British and American English may seem similar, but their differences abound. Contentious cultural wars are waged daily, on both sides of the Atlantic. As an American linguist based in Britain, Lynne Murphy brings a wry fish-out-of-water wit and a keen eye to this great divide. Some Americans suffer from a verbal inferiority complex, while on this side of the pond Brits are gripped by a delusional paranoia that their English is under attack. Murphy puts the mythologies of British and American English to the test, sharing surprising revelations about how our language really works.

Funding

British and American Dictionary Cultures; G1681; BRITISH ACADEMY; SG151037

History

Publication status

  • Published

Publisher

Oneworld Publications

Pages

368.0

Place of publication

London

ISBN

9781786072696

Department affiliated with

  • English Publications

Notes

Primarily funded by a National Endowment for the Humanities (USA) Public Scholars Program grant.

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • No

Legacy Posted Date

2017-11-13

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