Book Review: 'Origins of the Specious'

Origins of the Specious: Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language by Patricia T. O'Conner

Origins of the Specious, Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language, by former New York Times editors Patricia T. O'Conner (Woe Is I) and Stewart Kellerman is as entertaining as it is enlightening. I learned plenty after a day on the beach with this gem. Logophiles O'Conner and Kellerman explore the myths that surround language and rules.

Read this book, and you'll learn that the auction block and the auctioneer's block have their roots in slavery (this is where human beings were sold as if they were farm machines) though nobody seems offended by these phrases but niggardly, which has a completely different etymology and means miserly, can cause all kinds of turmoil. Read on, and you'll find out the seemingly harmless verb to grandfather, as in to be exempt from a rule because you were on the scene before the rule came into effect, has its roots in the Jim Crow South and segregationists' sincere efforts to keep African Americans out of the polling stations.

The book is full of show-stoppers like these. English is an interesting, dynamic, democratic language. The correct usage, the authors tell us, is whatever most people think it is. Just give it time, and before you know it your fat dictionary full of words is pretty phat, too.

O'Conner and Kellerman take a look at the rules and show the reader that most aren't and the rest are subject to discussion because not so many centuries ago some Latinists tried to mess with the rules of our Germanic tongue. Bottom line: you really can't split an infinitive, prepositions can end sentences if they really want to, and the once-gender-neutral "he" was a woman's idea though not many women ever liked it much.

My friend who gave me the book told me it's a wonderful work to dip into and just find things that are interesting. She's right. Once I dipped here and there, I sat down and read the whole thing. I enjoyed it, and if you've read to here, you might, too!

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