Enjoy a spot of afternoon tea and biscuits while author Ben Yagoda discusses and signs copies of his new book "Gobsmacked! The British Invasion of American English."
About the Book (from the publisher): The British love to complain that words and phrases imported from America—from French fries to Awesome, man!—are destroying the English language. But what about the influence going the other way?
Britishisms have been making their way into the American lexicon for more than 150 years, but the process has accelerated since the turn of the twenty-first century. From acclaimed writer and language commentator Ben Yagoda, "Gobsmacked!" is a witty, entertaining, and enlightening account of how and why scores of British words and phrases—such as one-off, go missing, curate, early days, kerfuffle, easy peasy, and cheeky—have been enthusiastically taken up by Yanks.
Rigorously researched and documented but written in a light, conversational style, this is a book that general readers and language obsessives will love. Its revealing account of a surprising and underrecognized language revolution might even leave them, well, gobsmacked.
About the Author: Ben Yagoda has published more than a dozen books, including "Will Rogers: A Biography"; "About Town: “The New Yorker” and the World It Made"; "When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It: The Parts of Speech, for Better and/or Worse"; and "The Sound on the Page: Style and Voice in Writing." He is professor emeritus of English at the University of Delaware. His blog, Not One-Off Britishisms, has been visited more than 3 million times.
