Bodleian Library
We Are Not Amused: Victorian Views on Pronunciation as Told in the Pages of Punch
Key Metrics
- David Crystal
- Bodleian Library
- Hardcover
- 9781851244782
- 8.4 X 6.5 X 0.6 inches
- 0.75 pounds
- Humor > Topic - Language
- English
Secure TransactionBook Description
For We Are Not Amused, renowned English-language expert David Crystal has explored the most common pronunciation-related controversies during the reign of Queen Victoria and brought together the cartoons and articles that poked fun at them, adding insightful commentary on the context of the times. The collection brings to light a society where class distinctions ruled. Crystal explains why people felt so strongly about accents and identifies which accents were the main sources of jokes, from the dropped h's of the Cockney working class to the upper-class tendency to drop the final g in words like huntin' and fishin'.
In this fascinating and highly entertaining book, Crystal shows that outrage over proper pronunciation is nothing new--our feelings today have their origins in the ways our Victorian predecessors thought about the subject.
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