Highly Irregular

Arika Okrent is a linguist and author of In the Land of Invented Languages. She worked in a brain research lab on her way to a Psycholinguistics PhD from the University of Chicago, and now writes about language for various publications including Mental Floss, The Week, Smithsonian Magazine, Popular Science, Slate, and Aeon.Sean O'Neill is an illustrator and writer living in Chicago. He is the creator of the Rocket Robinson series of graphic novels for young readers.Arika and Sean are also known for their series of live-drawing whiteboard videos on language and other topics, produced by mentalfloss.com.

• What the Hell, English?The Colonel of Truth: What is the deal with the word colonel?Fairweather Vowels: Why is y a sometimes vowel?Hey Large Spender: Why do we order a large drink and not a big one?Crazy English: Why do we drive on a parkway and park on a driveway?What the Hell is with What the Hell?Blame the BarbariansThoroughly Tough, Right?: Why don't tough, through, and dough rhyme?Getting and Giving the General Gist: Why are there two ways to say the letter g?Egging them On: What is the egg doing in egg on?I Ated All the Cookies: Why do we have irregular verbs?It Goes by so Fastly: Why do we move slowly but not fastly? And step softly but not hardly?Elegantly Clad and Stylishly Shod: Why is it clean-shaven and not clean-shaved?Six of One, Half a Twoteen of the Other: Why is it eleven, twelve instead of oneteen, twoteen?Woe is We: Why is it woe is me, not I am woe?Blame the FrenchA Sizeable, Substantial, Extensive Vocabulary: Why are there so many synonyms?Don't inSULT me with that INsult: Why are there noun-verb pairs that only differ by stress?Without Fail: Why is it without fail and not failure or failing?Ask the Poets Laureate: Why is it sum total and not total sum?Of Unrequited Lof: Why isn't of spelled with a v?Blame the Printing PressUninvited Ghuests: Why are ghost, ghastly, and ghoul spelled with a gh?Gnat, Knot, Comb, Wrist: Why do we have silent consonants?Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda: Why is there a silent l?Peek, Peak, Piece, People: Why are there so many ways to write the 'ee' sound?Crew, Grew, Stew, New...Sew?: Why don't sew and new rhyme?Blame the snobsGet Receipts on those Extra Letters: Why is there a p in receipt, an l in salmon, and a b in doubt?Asthma, Phelgm, and Diarrhea: Why all the extra letters?The Data are in on the Octopi: What's the deal with Latin plurals?Too Much Discretion: Keeping discreet and discrete discrete, discreetlyPick a Color/Colour: Can't we get this standardized/standardised?Blame ourselvesCouth, Kempt, and Ruthful: Why have some words lost their better halves?If it Ain't Broke, Don't Scramble It: Why is There no egg in eggplant?Proving the Rule: How can an exception prove a rule?How Dare You Say How Try You!: Why dare isn't like the other verbsRelease the Meese: Why isn't the plural of moose meese?Why do Noses Run and Feet Smell?: A corny joke with a serious answerNegative Fixation: Why can you say "this won't take long" but not "this will take long"?Abbreviation Deflation: Why is there an r in Mrs.?How it Comes to Be: How come we say how come?Phrasal Verbs, Let's Go Over Them: But don't try to "go them over." (You can look them over though)Terrible and Terrific, Awful and Awesome: How does the same root get opposite meanings?Literally Messed Up: How did literally get to mean figuratively?That's Enough, Now, EnglishAcknowledgmentsNotesBibliography

In more than 40 brief, readable chapters, Okrent brings both erudition and wit to the history of English and the mechanisms of language change and all the quirky consequences ... Every language should have a book like this one.