Weeds in the Garden of Words

Kate Burridge provides an entertaining look at 'unacceptable' words, phrases and pronunciations in English.

The English language is a glorious garden, but it also contains some weeds. Linguistic weeds may be slang expressions, non-standard pronunciations, or constructions that are out of place. But what one gardener calls a 'weed', another may call a 'flower'. The same goes for words and their usage in English.If the English language is a glorious garden, filled with exotic hybrids and the continuing tradition of heritage specimens, then it is no surprise that we will also find some weeds. Linguistic weeds may have pronunciations we don't want or constructions that are out of place. We may be trying to hold on to words and usage we should perhaps have said farewell to. But as all gardeners know, what one gardener calls a 'weed', another may call a 'flower'. The same goes for words and their usage in English - sometimes we just haven't realized their virtues. Kate Burridge follows the international success of her book Blooming English with another entertaining excursion into the ever-changing nature of our complex and captivating language.