Says Who?

A Kinder, Funner Usage Guide for Everyone Who Cares About Words

By: Anne Curzan

Narrated by: Anne Curzan

A kinder, funner usage guide to the ever-changing English language and a useful tool for both the grammar stickler and the more colloquial user of English, from linguist and veteran professor Anne Curzan

“I was bowled over, page after page, by the author’s fine ear for our language and her openhearted erudition. I learned a lot, and I couldn’t have enjoyed myself more.”—Benjamin Dreyer, New York Times bestselling author of Dreyer’s English

Our use of language naturally evolves and is a living, breathing thing that reflects who we are. Says Who? offers clear, nuanced guidance that goes beyond “right” and “wrong” to empower us to make informed language choices. Never snooty or scoldy (yes, that’s a “real” word!), this book explains where the grammar rules we learned in school actually come from and reveals the forces that drive dictionary editors to label certain words as slang or unacceptable.

Linguist and veteran English professor Anne Curzan equips readers with the tools they need to adeptly manage (a split infinitive?! You betcha!) formal and informal writing and speaking. After all, we don’t want to be caught wearing our linguistic pajamas to a job interview any more than we want to show up for a backyard barbecue in a verbal tux, asking, “To whom shall I pass the ketchup?” Curzan helps us use our new knowledge about the developing nature of language and grammar rules to become caretakers of language rather than gatekeepers of it. Applying entertaining examples from literature, newspapers, television, and more, Curzan welcomes usage novices and encourages the language police to lower their pens, showing us how we can care about language precision, clarity, and inclusion all at the same time.

With lively humor and humanity, Says Who? is a pragmatic and accessible key that reveals how our choices about language usage can be a powerful force for equity and personal expression. For proud grammar sticklers and self-conscious writers alike, Curzan makes nerding out about language fun.

*This audiobook contains a downloadable PDF that includes important visuals, passages, and examples of sentence structures referred to in the book.

Critic reviews

“Anne Curzan’s Says Who? is a thoughtful, charming tour of English as it is spoken, English as it is written, and English as it is fussed over and fought about. I was bowled over, page after page, by the author’s fine ear for our language and her openhearted erudition. I learned a lot, and I couldn’t have enjoyed myself more.”—Benjamin Dreyer, New York Times bestselling author of Dreyer’s English

“Says Who? is truly a ‘kinder, funner’ grammar book, a refreshing and forgiving take on rules and convention, while also being an entertaining read.”—Abraham Verghese, author of The Covenant of Water

“Readers will be sighing in relief, because this kind, informative book quashes the grammar rumors that block the way to communication and art.”—Ellen Jovin, author of the national bestseller Rebel with a Clause

“Anne Curzan has accomplished the feat of addressing every possible language peeve anyone ever has, each one in tasty chapters not too short and not too long. No one could follow it: it's a mic-drop.”—John McWhorter, New York Times bestselling author of Nine Nasty Words

“Logophiles and the linguistically trepidatious alike will appreciate Curzan’s deep dives into the history of knotty constructions, as well as the commonsense and compassionate advice about navigating it all without shame—or without shaming others. Would that we all had a grammar teacher as approachable, knowledgeable, and excited by English as Anne Curzan.”—Kory Stamper, author of Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries

“A delightful exploration of the quirks and controversies in the English language . . . Whether you embrace your inner ‘grammando’ or inner ‘wordie,’ Says Who? is sure to satisfy anyone curious about language’s ever-shifting landscape.”—Ben Zimmer, language columnist for The Wall Street Journal

“As a guide through the labyrinth of language, Curzan provides a road map that makes for an enjoyable, informative journey.”—Kirkus Review (starred review)

“Spirited . . . Chock-full of fascinating trivia and persuasively argued, this will give grammar sticklers pause.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Curzan lays forth her incomparable erudition with deft lightheartedness that will appeal to wordies at all levels.”—Booklist (starred review)

Funner to begin with, Tediouser toward the end

I've listened to Professor Curzan's Great Courses lectures on the English language and have been a big fan of her descriptivist approach to evolutionary changes in our living ever-changing language.

In Says Who?, Professor Curzan calls the prescriptivist within us our inner grammando, insisting on proper usage, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc. She also appeals to our inner wordie, who tries to understand that things change, and maybe it's cool to embrace that change, or at least tolerate it in others since we, like, do it ourselves, you know?

I've become an avowed wordie since reading Curzan and John McWhorter, two activist descriptivist linguists. The latter caused me to change my mind about the figurative use of the word literally over the course of a single chapter (Curzan deals with the same issue here). Although the best the two writers could do about irregardless is convince me not to correct someone but to just secretly call them a dumbass in my inner monologue.

Most of Says Who? is a series of exercises on suppressing your inner grammando and listening to your inner wordie instead. It gets to be a bit tedious in the latter half of the book since you already know where he argument is heading. The best bone she can throw to Strunk & White followers is to suggest you let your inner grammando guide your formal writing.

But in the first half of the book, there are a remarkable series of examples of how standard English is the result of prescriptions laid down by the powers that be, causing undue criticisms of people who speak differently (you know what I mean).

One stunning example is how some people say hisself and theirselves instead of the standard himself and themselves. Curzan explains that in every other case, a possessive pronoun prefixes self -- we say myself and ourselves, not meself or weselves. Until we get to his and their, then we switch to him and them. Those who say it "wrong" are actually more grammatically consistent than the snooty standardized speakers who believe them to be ignorant. You can then easily take the next step forward to other pronoun controversies.

Great stuff, though perhaps a bit too much toward the end, especially if you've already learned a lot of this material, as I have.

Made for wordies

Clever, funny, and informative. For anyone who loves grammar, history, languages and culture. It’s incredible how the language we speak is influenced by our values as a society and can include or exclude people. Worth the listen!

Usage rules are not set in stone!

I was surprised to learn that usage rules can be outdated or just wrong. I truly enjoyed how
Wordies were contrasted with Grammandos. l like to think of myself as a Wordie. I also purchased the Kindle and Hardcover versions for reference.

Obsessed

A fun and informative read. On par with Dreyer's English but far from a repeat of his work. Would love to have her over for dinner - she is authoritative, warm, and entertaining. I look forward to a relisten.

Memorable Indormation

I’ve long been something of a grammar geek and loved this book. I kept stopping, taking a note, rinse, repeat.

Tour de force in descriptive prescriptivism

Anne Curzan is, arguably, the leading descriptive prescriptivist in (American) English. In this delightfully read little handbook, she tackles all the best known grammar peeves, shows where they come from, what is ACTUALLY happening re. their usage, and offers practical advice on how to handle them in either written or spoken language. She does this with empathy (to not scare the grammandos off), but with a vision on the future (to please the wordies). I cannot recommend the book high enough, and it will become recommended reading for all our university students in linguistics.

Brilliant!

I've never been known for my excellent use of English! Even 60 years ago my school performance led to deep surprise resulting in my headmaster grasping me by the hand in the middle of August on the high street with the words "Newcomb; you passed English Language O Level!!!"

So I've surprised myself by picking up Anne Curzan's book to learn/hear more about my language of birth. Being more inclined toward mathematics and sciences my tendency is to fall back on 'rules' which would satisfy my inner 'grammando' rather than tolerate the flexibility of my 'wordie'.

But my eyes have been opened by Ms Curzan. I see how our language has changed down the years and sometimes done complete somersaults! Even right now, many current usage guides and dictionaries often do NOT share common understandings. Not only that, but their perspectives change over the years and between editions. As such, I've found the book quite a witty scrutiny of our usage. I need to relax a bit on my inner insistence on following rules.

My disappointment comes from recognising that I'll forget/have already forgotten, too much of her advice!

A great read!!!

waste of time, do not buy

I wanted a book to help me improve my linguistic skills, this book does not help. Instead Mz. Curran explains that any improper use of language will become proper given enough time. I wish my English professors took this view. Bottom line, Anne Curzan says there is no correct way to speak, rendering her book a huge waste of time.