What does it mean to talk like an American? According to John Russell Bartlett’s 1848 Dictionary of Americanisms, it means indulging in outlandish slang—splendiferous, scrumptious, higgledy-piggledy—and free-and-easy word creation—demoralize, lengthy, gerrymander. American English is more than just vocabulary, though. It’s a picturesque way of talking that includes expressions like go the whole hog, and the wild boasts of frontiersman Davy Crockett, who claimed to be “half horse, half alligator, and a touch of the airthquake.” Splendiferous Speech explores the main sources of the American vernacular—the expanding western frontier, the bumptious world of politics, and the sensation-filled pages of popular 19th-century newspapers. It’s a process that started with the earliest English colonists (first word adoption—the Algonquian raccoon) and follows Americans as they learn to declare linguistic independence and embrace their own brand of speech. For anyone who wonders how we got from the English of King James to the slang of the Internet, it’s an exhilarating ride.

“I read about language every day, and I was still delighted and surprised by almost every page. You’ll find new, splendiferous ways of looking at the men (and occasionally women) of American history—as creators of a new language as well as a new country.” —Mignon Fogarty, podcaster and author of
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“Splendiferous Speech is the compelling and engaging story of American English’s tumultuous adolescence, and every page will give you new appreciation of the words and expressions that make American English so vibrant.” —Erin McKean, founder of Wordnik and author of Totally Weird and Wonderful Words and The Secret Lives of Dresses

“A delightful tour of how America claimed English for itself, weaving together into a vibrant lexical tapestry contributions from knickerbockers and Yankees, cattle ranchers and gold prospectors, the jargon of Wall Street and the floor of Congress, and the patter of the bars and the streets.” —Arika Okrent, author of In the Land of Invented Languages

Rosemarie Ostler holds a PhD in Linguistics and has been interviewed on numerous radio programs including NPR’s Tell Me More and The Bob Edwards Show. She is the author of four books about American English and has written for The Saturday Evening Post, Christian Science Monitor, Writer’s Digest, and other magazines.