Biting the Wax Tadpole: Confessions of a Language Fanatic

I just bought the book and read it top to bottom. However, there are a couple of points that are wrong or debatable, and since they are about my native language (Italian), I am pretty sure they _are_ wrong or debatable and that the editing of the book was pretty bad. First one: essere and stare in Italian do not work like that. In Spanish they do. In Italian they work like that in only one case which is the first one the book mentions ("sto bene"). The other example would be okay in Spanish ("eres linda"/"estas linda") but not in Italian. Second one: profanity in Italian. It cites only three examples that would be considered _extremely rude_. To the point that if the book was translated keeping those examples, the publisher might risk being sued. Nobody who spent his/her time in Italy doing anything but boozing (admittedly the author says that's the only thing she did) could not know, because she was in the region whose inhabitants have the most inventive euphemistic profanity of the entire nation. :-) So, I'm pretty sure "some" language in the world has the features that Little describes, but I cannot be sure it is "those" languages she mentions. And that's the missing fifth star.

It's time for the annual sheap-shearing contest in the Aberfan Valley. You're there, checking your flock before entering. How do you count? Yan, tan, tether, mether, pip, azer, sezar, akker, conter, dick, yanadick, tanadick, tetheradick, metheradick, bumfit, yanabum, tanabum, tetherabum, metherabum, jigget. This vestigial vigesimal counting system is just one of the many delights to be found in Elizabeth Little's completely enchanting book of musings on language. As she puts it, the words are "utterly charming, sounding like nothing so much as the names a young Will Shakespeare might have conjured up for a litter of adorable kittens." She's right -- I have no words to describe how much joy that little sequence "yanadick, tanadick, tetheradick, metheradick, bumfit" brings me, except to say that when I first read it, I literally squealed with delight . And how often does one get to do that these days? Though the chapter names are sober: "NOUNS, VERBS, NUMBERS, MODIFIERS, SPEECH", this is a book which romps, gambols, and frolics along the highways and byways of language, unearthing fascinating nuggets along the way. Little claims no formal qualification for writing on linguistic topics, other than a lifelong enthusiasm for language. In writing such a wonderful book, she has demonstrated that no other qualification is needed. If you are a language geek (like me), this book gets 5 stars hands down. Though it seems hard to believe, not everyone will stare transfixed by the beauty of the declension table specifying all 18 Hungarian case endings that Little includes in the book. But for those of you who find such matters eerily fascinating (and you know who you are!), "Biting the Wax Tadpole" is a garden of earthly delights.

As a professional writer, I really should have much more than a passing interest in the finer points of grammar and linguistics. So, to assuage my guilt, I periodically try to find a book that will help me learn more about English and its illogical curiosities, not to mention its austere technicalities. It can be a bit embarrassing. For example, if someone who knows that I'm a writer asks me to define the copulative then I'll try to change the conversation to football, which I find fifty times more interesting than grammar. Of course, it depends who's asking. This book caught my eye initially because it's yellow. Every other book about the language is light blue, dark blue, light mauve, taupe, or fawn. I also liked the title which is as strong a non sequitur as Monty Python's Flying Circus. Most books about linguistics have dreary titles and a dreary layout. Memo to publishers. Try this next time...The Hooters Monthly Guide to Semantics and Participles, or Debbie Does Declensions. This approach might increase sales and interest. While Biting the Wax Tadpole is a serious look at a serious subject, Elizabeth Little writes with a warm, self-effacing, and generous style that makes the technical interesting and fun. To be honest, some of the work is a bit deep for me and might be best for, say, a tenured professor of linguistics, but the the journey around the world's languages is a crazy ride that makes me appreciate my native language and hope that I never get caught in Swaziland trying to find a square meal. I, for one, am glad that we don't have masculine and feminine nouns with no logical way to determine gender. Imagine what the political correctness mafia here would do with that system! Look at what they have organized, as Little points out, with "alumni." Anyway, this book is a must for anyone who loves language and/or works in the field. Biting the Wax Tadpole provides an intriguing and witty introduction to how we communicate. And it's yellow. I hope that Elizabeth Little writes many more books--on many more subjects.

Little's look at the world of languages, their common traits, and their huge range of differences, will introduce everyone but the most well-informed of linguistic scholars to the unique and at times amusing quirks of language. From languages that click, to languages with only three names of colors, Little takes us on a grand tour through both time and space, broadening our horizons and understandings of history and culture as evidenced by the way people have used language. The real charm of the book, however, is Little's frequent use of pop cultural references, witty remarks, and double entendres, to make what could be a dry topic turn out simply effervescent. Any reader will be infused with Little's own passion for languages after turning just a few short pages.