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You Are What You Speak
You Are What You Speak: Grammar Grouches, Language Laws and the Power of Words | Robert Lane Greene
7 posts | 2 read | 24 to read
Why does language move some of us to anxiety or even rage? For centuries, sticklers have donned the cloak of authority to control how people use words. In this sensational new book, Robert Lane Greene strikes back to defend the fascinating, real-life diversity of this most basic human faculty. Along the way, he corrects Bill Brysons facts about words, challenges the rhetoric of Lynne Trusss bestselling Eats, Shoots & Leaves, and explains why speech is a lot like jazz. Travel with Greene on a rollicking world tour that shows the role language beliefs play in shaping our identities, for good and ill. From the Tower of Babel to Atatrks banning of Arabic script, he charts how language experts moved from myth-making to rule-making and from building cohesive communities to building modern nations. This enthralling book reveals that our arguments about language may relate to something else entirely, and illuminates the rewards of being flexible with our words. You Are What You Speak will certainly get people talking. "This is a masterly survey of language...erudite and witty." Julian Burnside
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Sace
Sace
You Are What You Speak: Grammar Grouches, Language Laws and the Power of Words | Robert Lane Greene
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"In 1900 fully 4% of students in the United States were being taught at least partly in German-- a far higher proportion than all bilingual programs for all languages combined today."

C'mon! Let's make America great again, folks! More bilingual education in more languages! Lol.

Also, can we stop shaming immigrants who don't learn English fast enough? We sure don't support their learning very well.

IamIamIam I've always been disappointed that more schools don't require students to learn ASL. 7y
Sace @IamIamIam I've always wanted to learn that. I wonder if the local university offers a class in it.... 7y
Sace @IamIamIam PS students in my district can graduate from high school having never been exposed to any second language. They dropped the foreign language requirement years ago. 7y
See All 7 Comments
Tamra No, instead it‘s drill to the test. 😡 7y
Sace @Tamra DATA DATA DATA 😡😠😡😠😡😠 Makes me sick 7y
IamIamIam Wow, that's crazy!!! I can't imagine that!!!! 7y
[DELETED] 3803335244 Makes me glad I homeschool my kids. My oldest son is fluent in Latin & Spanish and my daughter is fluent in French. All of my kids know conversational sign language too. Not enough to be fluent but enough to communicate basic words. I am proud of them because it‘s not easy they put their hearts into education. 7y
86 likes7 comments
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Sace
Sace
You Are What You Speak: Grammar Grouches, Language Laws and the Power of Words | Robert Lane Greene
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"Language is usually best left to its own devices."

Miss_Kim Truth. 7y
91 likes1 comment
quote
Sace
Sace
You Are What You Speak: Grammar Grouches, Language Laws and the Power of Words | Robert Lane Greene
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Ok not quite a quote, but in light of recent reports if I had read this last week it wouldn't have stuck out to me so much.

CoffeeCatsBooks 😢 7y
Sace @CoffeeCatsBooks I just found out that the reported banning of words for the CDC wasn't quiiiite accurate. Whew! 7y
CoffeeCatsBooks Thanks for the update. I just googled it after your comment. Still sad that they are trying to avoid certain words to get a budget passed. Somewhat better news this morning 🤔 7y
Sace @CoffeeCatsBooks totally agree that it's sad that certain words have to be eliminated to get a budget passed. It's hilariously ironic to me. 7y
83 likes4 comments
blurb
Sace
Sace
You Are What You Speak: Grammar Grouches, Language Laws and the Power of Words | Robert Lane Greene
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Though I'm beginning to wonder if these are on purpose just to mess with the reader's head. (It's hard to see but the bottom photo shows "Fist published in Britain..." )

84 likes
blurb
Sace
Sace
You Are What You Speak: Grammar Grouches, Language Laws and the Power of Words | Robert Lane Greene
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Really enjoying this. I'm such a sucker for language books.

Augustdana I can‘t vouch for it yet, but this just became available from my library!
[tagged book]Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries
7y
Sace @Augustdana I've got it on my shelves. I'll get to it...one day 😂 7y
Clare-Dragonfly He corrects Bill Bryson's facts about words? Sold! 7y
Sace @Clare-Dragonfly oh yeah, he did! 7y
113 likes10 stack adds4 comments
blurb
MrBook
MrBook
You Are What You Speak: Grammar Grouches, Language Laws and the Power of Words | Robert Lane Greene
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#TBRtemptation post 1! Journalist Greene takes us on a world tour to see how language--the human condition's most diverse aspect--shapes our identities. The Tower of Babel, the bloody origins of the word "shibboleth", what makes for bad English, how language creates an us-vs.-them mentality, the French Academy policing language development, nationalist suppression of Kurdish & Basque, foreign language education, etc. #blameLitsy #blameMrBook ?

Laura317 I admit that I will often take on the speaking style of people i am with in order to connect. With some less formally educated folk (not stupid, by any means), I will speak as they do. "I don't got a clue." Or, "Y'all have a good day, now!" I feel like I relate better to them if they think I'm one of them, and not "some uppity, high-fahlutin' woman". Does that make sense? 8y
LitsyGoesPostal 😊👍🏻 8y
65 likes10 stack adds2 comments
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DyAnne
DyAnne
You Are What You Speak: Grammar Grouches, Language Laws and the Power of Words | Robert Lane Greene
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"Peeves are like that: my peeves are law, yours are unhealthy obsessions."
I'm enjoying this so far. Language is one of my favorite things to ponder. I'm a descriptive linguist all the way, baby! It's your language. Bend it to your will.

14 likes1 stack add