Based on Peter Trudgill's weekly column in the Eastern Daily Press newspaper, this book has two overall messages. The first is that language is a fascinating an

Trudgill's lively book traces the histories of dialects and accents, and defends the legitimacy of the language of ordinary people.

Is Ebonics really a dialect or simply bad English? Do women and men speak differently? Will computers ever really learn human language? Does offensive language

Bringing together Trudgill's columns for the New European, this collection explores the influence of European language on English.

It is hard to find someone who doesn't have a pet peeve about language. The act of bemoaning the decline of language has become something of a cottage industry.