Cunning Linguistics

When I studied the history of English in university, there were three of us keeners who sat up at the front while the rest of the class cowered near the back. Every so often I would look back to see who was still there. Over the course of the year, their number diminished by at least half.

With The Rude Story of English, Tom Howell has clearly aimed to write a book that will keep the students in the back from fleeing—while keeping the keeners in the front entertained. It is an effort well worth making. Most people’s knowledge of the history of the English language is not simply woefully inadequate; it is actually worse than no knowledge at all. It extends barely further than snippets and impressions of Shakespeare—which they may erroneously think is Old English—and to randomly strewn –eth and –e endings and ye here and there. Many a movie and TV show has...