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Founding Grammars

Page 32

by Rosemarie Ostler

words

  from Anglo-Saxon

  bizarre combinations

  country words and phrases

  feminized

  histories

  low

  misuse of

  new

  obsolete

  offensive words and phrases

  origins

  overblown

  over-genteel or pompous

  pairs

  primary and secondary classes

  with similar meanings

  Words and Their Uses (White, R.)

  comments on

  popularity of

  Words: Their Use and Abuse (Mathews)

  would/will

  written language

  Wycliffe, John

  Yagoda, Ben

  Yale

  ye

  you

  use of

  was with

  ye and

  between you and I

  you and me, you and I

  Young Kate (Lewis)

  The Young Lady’s Accidence (Bingham)

  About the Author

  Rosemarie Ostler, a linguist and former librarian, enjoys delving into the rich record of American usage and word invention. Her books about slang and word origins explore the colorful turns of phrase in America’s past lexicon. Ostler is the author of Slinging Mud, Let’s Talk Turkey, and Dewdroppers, Waldos, and Slackers. Her articles have appeared in The Saturday Evening Post, Whole Earth, Christian Science Monitor, Verbatim, and Writer’s Digest, among others. Rosemarie lives in Eugene, Oregon. Learn more at www.rosemarie-ostler.com or sign up for email updates here.

  ALSO BY ROSEMARIE OSTLER

  Slinging Mud:

  Rude Nicknames, Scurrilous Slogans, and Insulting Slang from Two Centuries of American Politics

  Let’s Talk Turkey:

  The Stories Behind America’s Favorite Expressions

  Dewdroppers, Waldos, and Slackers:

  A Decade-by-Decade Guide to the Vanishing Vocabulary of the Twentieth Century

  Thank you for buying this

  St. Martin’s Press ebook.

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  For email updates on the author, click here.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Acknowledgments

  Preface

  1. Grammar for a New Country

  2. Grammar for Different Classes of Learners

  3. The Value of Grammar

  4. Rational Grammar

  5. Grammar and Gentility

  6. The Science of Grammar

  7. Grammar for a New Century

  8. The Persistence of Grammar

  Notes

  Bibliography

  Index

  About the Author

  Also by Rosemarie Ostler

  Copyright

  FOUNDING GRAMMARS. Copyright © 2015 by Rosemarie Ostler. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

  www.stmartins.com

  Cover design by Jeremy Fink and David Baldeosingh Rotstein

  Feather by Jut/Shutterstock

  eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.

  The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

  ISBN 978-1-250-04612-3 (hardcover)

  ISBN 978-1-4668-4628-9 (e-book)

  e-ISBN 9781466846289

  First Edition: May 2015

 

 

 


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