English dictionary

The Scandalous History of Proper English

The Leonard Lopate Show | Aug 27, 2014

We are re-airing this interview which originally aired on June 30, 2014. 

English is a glorious mess of a language, cobbled together from a wide variety of sources and syntaxes, and changing over time with popular usage. Many of the words and usages we embrace as standard and correct today were at first considered slang, impolite, or just plain wrong. Ammon Shea looks at language “mistakes” and how they came to be accepted as correct—or not. His book Bad English: A History of Linguistic Aggravation chronicles the long history of language mistakes.

WNYC is funded by sponsors and member donations

Top Stories

City Politics: E-Bike Regulations and AOC's Path to 2028

The Brian Lehrer Show |

Teen drowns at Rockaway Beach after lifeguards clear their shifts for the day

Lifeguards had finished work at 6 p.m. but had remained at their station houses nearby because the city’s heat emergency plan was active on Sunday.
Gothamist |

Retirement Is About Time, Not Just Money

All Of It with Alison Stewart |

How Socialist Is the D.S.A.? Megan Romer Explains

Romer, a co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America, defends some of the D.S.A.’s controversial positions: “I think people like us being rather bold. . . . People want a fighter.”
The New Yorker Radio Hour |
YOU ARE ONLINE