Much Ado about English: Up and Down the Bizarre Byways of a Fascinating Language

(Paperback)

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In this entertaining journey exploring the facts, foibles and sheer charm of English, Richard Watson Todd contemplates everything from the origins of words to their erratic spellings and unexpected uses. Much Ado About English strolls through the vast landscape of the English language and wanders down its most illogical, peculiar and idiosyncratic byways.

It ranges from where words have come from and how they've changed, to why spelling and pronunciation don't match up, and the myriad ways we use this flexible and fascinating language. Whether your interest is neologisms or pleonasms, sobriquets or oxymorons, tongue twisters or palindromes, this light-hearted and engaging book shows why there has been, is and always will be Much Ado About English.

Reviews

Ostrobogulously loquacious, linguistically ostentatious: a peregrination through pages of percurrent pleasure. A fun book and very rewarding to read. - Dr Michael Johnson, Open University

Author Bio

Richard Watson Todd was born in Shrewsbury and graduated from Lancaster University with a BA in Accounting & Finance before realising that accounting did not provide the most interesting of careers (apologies to accountants). After gaining a masters in Teaching English as a Foreign Language and a doctorate in the UK became Head of the Centre for Research and Services at the School of Liberal Arts at King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT) in Bangkok and runs the Big Applied Linguistics Database. He has acted as a consultant to both the World Bank and the Thai Ministry of Education, is the author of several books and a regular contributor to the Bangkok Post. Despite all this work, Richard finds enough time to keep his two dogs happy, enjoy reading and play darts.