Description

‘Wonderful. You finish the book more alive than ever to the enduring mystery and miracle of that thing that makes us most human’ STEPHEN FRY

‘Most popular books on language dumb down; Shariatmadari’s smartens things up, and is all the more entertaining for it’ THE SUNDAY TIMES, a Book of the Year

‘A meaty, rewarding and necessary read’ GUARDIAN

‘Fascinating and thought-provoking . . . crammed with weird and wonderful facts . . . for anyone who delights in linguistics it’s a richly rewarding read’ MAIL ON SUNDAY

– A word’s origin doesn’t tell you what it means today
– There are languages that change when your mother-in-law is present
– The language you speak could make you more prone to accidents
– There’s a special part of the brain that produces swear words

Taking us on a mind-boggling journey through the science of language, linguist David Shariatmadari uncovers the truth about what we do with words, exploding nine widely-held myths about language while introducing us to some of the fundamental insights of modern linguistics.

Publisher Review

Come for the myth-busting, stay for the lighthearted introduction to linguistics. David Shariatmadari ably demonstrates that there are plenty of fascinating things to learn about language without indulging in sensationalist headlines. Recommended for both language fans and anyone who enjoys learning about the hidden patterns in everyday life -- GRETCHEN MCCULLOCH, author of BECAUSE INTERNET An illuminating and thought-provoking journey through language -- DEAN BURNETT Most popular books on language dumb down; Shariatmadari's smartens things up, and is all the more entertaining for it * THE SUNDAY TIMES, Books of the Year * Fascinating and thought-provoking . . . crammed with weird and wonderful facts. Don't Believe a Word is a serious piece of research, cogently and carefully presented . . . for anyone who delights in linguistics it's a richly rewarding read * MAIL ON SUNDAY * This lucid examination of linguistics entertains as much as it informs . . . above all, this is a generous and enthralling study of the basis of how we communicate -- Alexander Larman * OBSERVER * A skilful summation of the latest research on how languages emerge, change, convey meaning and influence how we think . . . a meaty, rewarding and necessary read * GUARDIAN * Completely fascinating and eye-opening. David Shariatmadari is warm, wise and wonderfully steeped in his subject - the perfect guide to the brilliantly strange world of language -- MARINA HYDE David Shariatmadari translates the often arcane theories of linguistics into a sequence of accessible ideas and theories, making us look afresh at the language we speak and how it structures our intimacies, our thoughts, and our identities. Wry and immensely intelligent, this learned book awakens us to complexities of communication that we too readily ignore, and it does so with both deep scholarship and a light touch -- ANDREW SOLOMON Wonderful. David Shariatmadari wears his deep learning with such an admirable and alluring lightness of touch. He brilliantly swats away the pesky 'language guardian' flies, whose misbegotten pedantries and ignorant persnicketiness are the real threats to living language. You finish the book more alive than ever to the enduring mystery and miracle of that thing that makes us most human, the gift of language that was bestowed upon us so astonishingly recently in evolutionary time and that has made us everything that we are . . . for good or ill -- STEPHEN FRY