''Wonderful. You finish the book more alive than ever to the enduring mystery and miracle of that thing that makes us most human'' STEPHEN FRY''Most popular books on language dumb down; Shariatmadari''s smartens things up, and is all the more entertaining for it'' THE SUNDAY TIMES, a Book of the Year''A meaty, rewarding and necessary read'' GUARDIAN''Fascinating and thought-provoking . . . crammed with weird and wonderful facts . . . for anyone who delights in linguistics it''s a richly rewarding read'' MAIL ON SUNDAY - A word''s origin doesn''t tell you what it means today- There are languages that change when your mother-in-law is present- The language you speak could make you more prone to accidents- There''s a special part of the brain that produces swear wordsTaking us on a mind-boggling journey through the science of language, linguist David Shariatmadari uncovers the truth about what we do with words, exploding nine widely-held myths about language while introducing us to some of the fundamental insights of modern linguistics.