Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths of Language UsageMyths, Lies, and Half-Truths of Language Usage

The modern attitude toward English is filled with misconceptions that obscure the true picture of what a marvelous language it is. Dispel the cloud of confusion that clings to English and become a more informed and more self-aware speaker of our wonderful language in MYTHS, LIES, AND HALF-TRUTHS OF LANGUAGE USAGE, guided by acclaimed linguist Professor John McWhorter.John McWhorter is an Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, where he teaches courses on linguistics, Western civilization, American studies, and music history. He earned his PhD in Linguistics from Stanford University, and he has taught at both Cornell University and the University of California, Berkeley. His academic specialties are language change and language contact. Dr. McWhorter is the author of numerous books, including The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language; Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language and Music and Why We Should, Like, Care; Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English; What Language Is: And What It Isn't and What It Could Be; The Language Hoax: Why the World Looks the Same in Any Language; Words on the Move: Why English Won't—and Can't—Sit Still (Like, Literally); and Talking Back, Talking Black: Truths about America's Lingua Franca. He has also written a book on dialects and Black English, Word on the Street: Debunking the Myth of a "Pure" Standard English; four books on Creole languages; and an academic linguistics book entitled Language Interrupted: Signs of Non-Native Acquisition in Standard Language Grammars. Dr. McWhorter hosts Slate's podcast Lexicon Valley and is a contributing editor to The Atlantic and The New Republic. In addition to his work in linguistics, Dr. McWhorter is the author of Losing the Race: Self-Sabotage in Black America; Authentically Black: Essays for the Black Silent Majority; and Winning the Race: Beyond the Crisis in Black America. He appears regularly on bloggingheads.tv and has written on race and cultural issues for The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, The American Enterprise, Ebony, and Vibe. He has provided commentaries for All Things Considered and has appeared on Meet the Press, Dateline NBC, Politically Incorrect, The Colbert Report, Book TV's In Depth, Talk of the Nation, TODAY, Good Morning America, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, and Fresh Air.