Um. . .: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean
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Language: English
Published by Random House USA Inc, 2008
- Softcover
- Used
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Essential reading for talkers and listeners of all stripes: An original, entertaining, and surprising book that investigates verbal blunders: what they are, what they say about those who make them, and how and why we've come to judge them. "An enjoyable tour of linguistic mishaps." -The New York Times Book Review Um. is about how you really speak, and why it's normal for your everyday speech to be filled with errors-about one in every ten words. In this charming, engaging account of language in the wild, linguist and writer Michael Erard also explains why our attention to some blunders rises and falls. Where did the Freudian slip come from? Why do we prize "umlessness" in speaking-and should we? And how do we explain the American presidents who are famous for their verbal stumbles.
Seller Inventory # CIN1400095433G
- Title
- Um. . .: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean
- Author
- Michael Erard
- Publisher
- Random House USA Inc
- Publication year
- 2008
- Condition
- Good
- Binding
- Paperback
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 1400095433
- ISBN 13
- 9781400095438
This original, entertaining, and surprising book is a natural history of things we wish we didn't say (but do), as well as a look at what happens in American culture (and others) when we do (and wish we didn't). Covering a vast array of verbal blunders, from Spoonerisms to malapropisms to "uh" and "um," linguist and author Erard provides a look into the science to explain why they happen and a look at society for how they're received in everyday life, in politics, and in the popular culture. One exceptional chapter covers where we got the sense that good speaking is necessarily umless; another chapter explains how Sigmund Freud got into slips of the tongue to begin with -- and how he wasn't the first to hunt and collect them. Full of entertaining examples, Um... is essential reading for talkers and listeners of all stripes.
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About the Author
Michael Erard writes about language, languages, and the people who use them. His articles about language and linguistics have appeared in The New York Times, Slate, Science, New Scientist, and many other publications. A contributing writer for Design Observer, he holds graduate degrees in linguistics and rhetoric from the University of Texas. He is also author of the forthcoming Babel No More: The Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Language Learners, which will be published by Free Press in January of 2012. For more about Um..., go to umthebook.com, and for more about Michael, go to michaelerard.com.
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