An Informal History of the English Language in the United States

If you are a fan of trivial and unusual American history, this is the book for you. Bill Bryson delivers little-known facts about the birth and cultivation of American English with his usual unfailing wit. Enjoy!

Bill Bryson has done it again! Not only is he laugh-out-loud-funny, he manages to throw in a fistful of history while entertaining the reader. If you are a lover of words (and what real reader isn't?), then you will love this book. Bryson informs the reader where thousands of our words come from, while at the same time he tells marvelous stories about these words. As a historian and professor, I made notes throughout the book so I can add these little history "gems" to my lectures. But don't think for a moment that this book is boring - Bill Bryson could make a person laugh over his laundry list!

You will be entertained and educated at the same time. I love reading and listening to Bryson's books. My preference is to listen on my iPod. I can close my eyes as he paints a vivid picture in my mind. You will absolutely enjoy his style. My favorite Bryson book is A Walk in the Woods, Made in America is also a great choice. Check him out, I think he will become one of your favorite authors too.

Having read Bryson's books before, I was not to pass up this one. I was not disappointed. This book is witty, full of historical facts and particulary enjoyable for those who appreciate history and language.

The book by Bill Bryson is great, as I expected. It was purchased as a Father's Day GIFT. I believe its condition was listed as "new" and a as a soft cover book. My ONLY complaint is that the back corner cover was bent (like fold-over bent, over an inch). Had it not been a gift, I would not care or even comment. Dad is nearly 86 years old and loves to read. This book covers topics we frequently talk (and laugh and wonder) about. That said, four stars is my rating. That's all. Otherwise, I almost always get what I expect from the store, including speedy delivery with regular shipping. Thanks.
Laura Meier

I'm a big B Bryson fan and certainly enjoyed many of his quirky stories about our American history. But this is not his best work by a long shot. At times it felt like he was trying just to fulfill a contractual commitment to publish another book.

Kind of a snoozer. Well, researched and interesting facts, but so many facts that it reads more like a treatise than an interesting book. I'm used to more of Bryson's humor amongst the facts, but this one is pretty heavy and slow reading.

I've read many Bill Bryson books and generally enjoy his flow from topic to topic. This book is poorly organized and the topics are treated very unevenly. To call it "informal" should not cover what comes across as disorganized.

EVERY ONE OF BILL BRYSONS BOOKS HAVE GIVEN ME INSIGHTS AND ARE ABSOLUTE PLEASURES TO READ.I HAVE
SEVERAL FRIENDS INTRODUCED TO THEM AND THEIR REACTION IS THE SAME. IT IS AMAZING WHAT HE CAN DO WITH
AN IDEA AND WITH LANGUAGE

This is a fun and easy read but I noted some facts that he got wrong, particularly with auto development, so I wonder what else is wrong. A pretty good book, though, history made interesting. Certainly fewer errors than one normally finds on the Internet...

All of Bryson's books are enlightening, engaging, & best of all a good time. Made in America is no exception. Like an etymological Brief History of Everything, this book is filled with facts, anecdotes, & enjoyable digressions. Read it!

Bill Bryson is a genius! I have yet to read a book of his which does not enthrall, elucidate, make me laugh out low and provide lots of chuckles. This book is no different with sometimes hilarious recounters.

I purchased this book thinking that it would be something I could pick up and put down whenever the time called for it but what I got was a book that not only gave me the entomology but gave me a wildly interesting rabbit hole along with it. This is not a put down book. I found, many times, saying, " you know what I just read?..." Great book.

Bryson has written a wonderful book about the emergence and development of the English language in America. This book will engross those who love history, language, and culture. Bryson is a master at story telling. This book is interesting throughout. It never gets bogged down.

Love Bryson. If he wrote text books, students wouldn't be able to put them down. His works are so much fun to read, they'd barely notice they were being taught so many subjects with each turn of the page.

Could not put it down. Enjoyed the different chapters covering major everyday events. Seemed like a true window into our language heritage. Often wondered how Mount Vernon got its name. Recommend this to everyone.

The book is fabulous (I'm guessing), based on the first chapter. I'm a big fan of Bryson, but buyer beware: the font used in the paperback version of this book is so tiny that it makes for a very difficult read (I'm over 50 but under 60). Sadly, I'm returning the book. I was hopeful to purchase on my Kindle so that I could increase the font size, but it's not available there....Sorry, Mr. Bryson; I tried.

I would have given this book 5 stars but he has a predilection for using words that are not used in general polite conversation.- so be warned. A shame because overall I was informed and enjoyed his style of writing.

I love books full of interesting tidbits and I feel like I learned quite a bit about the history of the English language in America from this book. It begins with the evolution of English as a national language in the early days of colonialism through the modern era. Some chapters were more fascinating than others. Good: What’s Cooking, Democratizing Luxury, The Movies. Not So Good: Names, The Melting Pot, Manners and other Matters. Regardless of how captivating each individual chapter was, they all offered something intriguing.

Admittedly, this book is a little out-of-date at almost 25 years old, and that is certainly reflected in the final chapter, American English Today. I can’t help but wonder what Bryson would think of the lexicon that’s derived from the internet and smart phones.

And I have to give a shout-out to Schaumburg, from the chapter subtitled Shopping in America: “Much the same thing happened to Schaumburg, Illinois. In 1956, it had 130 people. Then two things happened: O’Hare became Chicago’s main airport and the Woodfield Shopping Center, whit over two million square feet of retail space, was opened. By 1978, Schaumburg’s population had increased almost four-hundred-fold to fifty thousand and it was on course to become the second-biggest city in Illinois after Chicago by the turn of the century.” (Realistically, that never happened, as we are currently the 15th largest town in Illinois with just under 75,000.)

The trouble with Bill Bryson books for me now is that my expectations are probably too high. I'm not sure I even read the whole title before I bought this. I'm looking for humor and honesty and things I didn't know - all so well written that you don't count pages, you just read for fun. And Bryson delivers. I thoroughly enjoyed this "informal history" of America, while finding myself bored with the English language analysis. But it is right there in the title ". . . of the English Language" so duh, there's some English involved here.

But not so much as to derail the narrative story of America - changes and myths and everyday life and how we got where we are. This book makes me want to read more about everyday life and maybe more about what America means. I loved the ending words "If history is anything to go by, then three things about America's immigrants are as certain today as they ever were: that they will learn English, that they will become Americans, and that the country will be stronger for it. And if that is not a good thing, I don't know what is."

From the author who consistently manages to write the exact sort of nonfiction I enjoy comes a history of American, that very specific form of linguistic mutilation bestowed upon proper English by our fair nation. This isn't just a linguistic study though, this is very much an American history book told from a perspective of a linguist and/or etymologist. While American history doesn't interest me all that much (which didn't preclude me from learning about as much as a person can about it through books, after all it's only 500some years to cover), in one or more parallel universes I'm probably some sort of linguist/etymologist, so from that perspective the book was fascinating and positively crammed with information in Bryson's inimitable anecdotal style. He's also inimitably something of a crank (though notably less so in this book) and a man who is always right, but so be it, if that's the price of a admittedly one sided discourse with an intelligent and funny person, it's worth it. It's even worth the time and this book took hours and hours, densely populated with facts and figures and opinions. Overall, it's a very progressive, informative and diverting look at the history of a nation through word colored lenses and a compelling look at how progress defines language and, occasionally, language restricts progress. Bryson has many kind things to say about immigrants and their contribution to the our society, linguistically and economically among other things, which is all the more poignant to read about in 2017. The book was published 22 years ago (its old enough to drink book ale) and I can't help but wish Bryson would revisit it adding some chapters for the subsequent years, utilizing modern neologisms, maybe even addressing the gender neutrality so prevalent nowadays and all the modern political nuances. Mind you, it isn't dated so much as it just doesn't have the up to date information. Learning should be entertaining and this book achieves that goal awesomely, it's highly educational and very amusing with its multiple tangents and digressions. I've learned a good amount, let's see how much of it sticks in memory. Amateur armchair historians and linguists should enjoy this greatly. Recommended.

I've enjoyed several of Mr. Bryson's books. He writes in an engaging and humorous style about many things that interest him. This is a book about the American English language and how it developed. He also discusses historical events and trends that gave rise to American terms, and here's where there is some trouble.

I have begun to question the depth of his research and hence its accuracy. As an example, in describing the Transcontinental Air Transport company, an early airline, he states that rail was used to get over the Alleghenies because the Ford Trimotor planes could not fly very high. In fact, it was adverse winds and lack of suitable places to land that required the NYC-Columbus, OH to be by rail. Also, that leg was an overnight with comfortable sleeping car accommodations.

Worse, he states that the leg from Waynoka, OK to Clovis, NM was by rail to get over the Rockies. A cursory glance at a map shows that the leg flies over no mountains at all (it's the Texas Panhandle!). Again, it was simply more comfortable for passengers to go by rail overnight, and no doubt safer.
http://www.americanheritage.com/content/transcontinental-air-transport-inc

I ran across a few others, and that leads me to wonder how many more I have missed. Several reviewers of Bryson's book about Shakespeare complain that he makes too many errors and just makes stuff up. Nevertheless, I'll probably read that too.

This wonderful book's title is something of a misnomer. It is as much a plain history of America -- albeit in very loose, mostly anecdotal form -- as it is a history of the English language in the country, though it does that very well. The word "informal" in the title is key. Though the book is, unquestionably, a scholarly work, and clearly was exahustively-researched, Bryson writes in a very loose, personal style, such as a scholar might share with you over a drink (if you've ever managed to corner an English or History professor in a non-classrooom setting and engage them in conversation, you know the feeling.) His writing style is very appealing, and it keeps the book going smoothly: though absolutely bursting with information and endless factoids, the book is a very quick read, thanks to Bryson's personable writing style. Bryson begins his story with the landing of the Mayflower, and then proceeds to give a pre-history of America, and winds his way all the way up to the very latter part of the 20th century. He examines the English that was spoken by the early colonists, and how it has since evolved. The book is then split into chapters that deal with various aspects of American life -- shopping, war, sex, travel, etc. -- and how they have altered and added to our language. In every such chapter, Bryson details how the words that we use in relation to them came about, where they come from, when they were first used, and much, much more. Along the way, he discourses on such perenially-interesting topics as swear words, slang, cultural taboos (the chapter on sex is particularly enlightening), and he even takes a -- quite thoughtful -- swipe at the PC debate. Many of these facts are, to say the least, quite surprising. Trust me, however much you know about the subject of American English going on, you will know a lot more after reading the book (I, for one, had no idea that there was such a wide difference between American and British English.) That said, the book is almost as much a history book as it is an etymology book. Quite thoughtfully, Bryson not only gives us information on the origins of words, but also relays to us the social contexts in which they emerged -- a background without which much of the etymological information would be rendered meaningless. In a stark contrast to the standard high school textbook interpretation of history, Bryson gives us a highly anecdotal fly-by-the-seat-of-the-pants history of the United States; buckle up, friends, it's one wild ride. These stories are almost consistently interesting, frequently witty, very often funny, invariably surprising, and sometimes quick simply shocking. They are the kind of stories that will make you want to stop in the middle of your reading, find the nearest person to you, and shout out breathlessly, "Did you know...?!" Along the way, Bryson manages to debunk many of the most-cherished American stories -- I won't spoil any of them for you here, but rest assured that you will be quite shocked -- while confirming others, and creating some anew. As one commentor on the book succinctly said, If there is a more popular American pasttime than creating myths, it is trying to debunk them. Bryson, an American living in the U.K. at the time this book was written, seems generally proud to be an American, affirming the greatness of many of its folk heroes while holding the bright flame of truth up to some of its longest-standing fables, all in the admirable spirit of fierce, if tempered, patriotism. Due to this dichotomy, some sections of the book get very weighed down in almost list-like paragraphs detailing the origins of words, while some chapters, conversely, consist almost entirely of anecdotal histories with hardly any etymological content at all. All in all, it makes for very fun, interesting reading that goes by quickly and smootly; you'll learn a lot while reading it, and you'll enjoy yourself while doing it. This great book, which is much, much more than the title suggests, is a great read for anyone interested in the subjects it deals with, and an absolute must for scholars of American English and American History. Such is the enjoyment inherent in its nature, that I even recommend it to the general reader.

This is a big Bill Bryson book, his thickest effort yet, I believe. It's also a book with a split personality, but one that works in the end.
"Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States," is more than the title suggests. Much of the book is given over to an exploration of American English etymology and phraseology. However, Bryson spends considerable time venturing off into what can best be described as an anecdotal journey through American history.
It works. In fact, the anecdotalisms are the best part of the book. I've noticed in this and "The Mother Tongue" (his exploration of the King's English), Bryson's word histories sometimes run towards long lists with not enough exploration to make them interesting. That same pattern is true for the early part of this book. However, Bryson soon gets sidetracked in discussing various historical oddities and characters that make very interesting and usually witty reading.
This is a good, light book that can be enjoyed in small pieces if desired. It's anecdotal parts most resemble one of those "1001 Things Everyone Ought To Know About American History Books" -- in short, a collection of brief and interesting stories that are well written and evoke the occasional guffaw.
His word derivations and explorations are more scholarly and exact. Often fascinating, they sometimes are a bit too list oriented and crowded. But, ultimately they are still interesting if one would like to know why we: "Keep the ball rolling," live in many places named after Indian words, call our soldiers "GIs drive in "cars" and "autos" or speak in the numerous ways that are not literal nor necessarily logical but are definitely American.

America can be proud of Bill Bryson, and we should be eternally grateful for the mountain of research distilled into the pages of this wonderful book. With every page we find ourselves wondering, "How on Earth did he ever find this out?" For instance, at the outset we learn that "ye" is a contraction of "the" and was always pronounced "the" and not "yee." I wonder if the members of "Ye Olde Newgate Coon Club," in Norfolk, CT, know that? But this book isn't even primarily about orthography, but about American history, and how our language evolved as our country evolved. For instance we learn that Ben Franklin's "Poor Richard's Almanack" was for twenty-five years the country's second largest selling book, after the Bible. Nor is Bryson's book a purely etymological study, though we learn, as the Constitution is explained to us, that "federal" derives from the Latin "fides," for "faith." And we learn that "federal" was selected over the more emotive "national" because back then the word still carried the sense of a relationship resting on faith. Oh, how things have changed! Sometimes Made in America is a straightforward history, as when we learn the origin of our four time zones, or how the dollar was adopted as our monetary unit. Want to know were "southpaw," "bleachers," and "charley horse" came from? This is your book. As with all his writing, Bryson interrupts the informative stream of knowledge with humor. Why, he wonders, doesn't the otherwise faithfully reconstructed colonial village of Williamsburg preserve any of the three brothels which were originally there? The ten pages of bibliography provides a partial answer to the question of how he ever figured all this stuff out. The project of explaining the origins and evolution of American English has been tackled by many others, however we have Bryson to thank for distilling the most interesting features, mixing in history, orthography, etymology, and humor. Thanks, Bill.

A reader approaching Bill Bryson's `Made in America' might well have conflicting expectations. Knowing that it's about language, the potential reader might expect the delightfully funny explication of English found in Bryson's brilliant `Mother Tongue.' On the other hand, the fact that Bryson here treats language in America, specifically American culture, might make the reader wary after Bryson's 1989 dark hatchet job on his birth country, `The Lost Continent.'

I'm happy to say that `Made in America' is more like `Mother Tongue' than `The Lost Continent.' It has the former's lighthearted, ironic treatment of language development with little of the bitterness that made `The Lost Continent' a psychological study of the rejection of one's origins. Bryson, of course, cannot resist the temptation--in fact there's no evidence that he ever tries--to make fun of certain aspects of American culture, but it seems fair. He is most illuminating in those chapters dealing with colonial America, business, food and drink, television, and sex. I think it's because he either knows the scholarship on these subjects better or simply has immersed himself in them.

It's not a book without flaws, however. Bryson has done no original research himself, and one could argue that he would be less funny had he done so. But then, he might have noticed that he claims on one page that the term `department store' is not found in print until 1893 and that, on the very next page, he says the world's first permanent safety elevator was installed in the Haughwout Department Store in 1857. He may have read a book that says the word `limey' for a British sailor dates to the late Victorian age, but clearly that is late by several decades. Likewise, the `smart bomb' is a term from the Vietnam, not the (first) Iraq War, and Bryson seems unaware that the `mother of all [blank]' phrase originates with Saddam Hussein. On the other hand, Bryson's usual declaration of his political beliefs is generously absent, other than an identification of Margaret Sanger as `the esteemed birth-control activist.' Ugh.

Overall, a must-read for Bryson fans or for anyone interested in how the English language was molded by the American experience.

I almost lost hope after the awful "Mother Tongue", a sort of "English Language For Dummies." And indeed, it appears written by a dummy considering the number of obvious errors found between its covers. But in MADE IN AMERICA Bryson is back with a vengeance and has restored my flagging confidence.
As is true with most of his books, it is more than it appears. It is the story of America with all its quirks, hidden history and unknown facts. Some are uneasy with the new tales we learn here but when one recognizes that ALL peoples the world around strive to present to the world their best face, it is totally understandable. The same thing goes on today. We do not want to hear of Clinton's everyday obscenity-laced tirades against enemies not of Bush's prediliction to waving his hand and accepting whatever is suggested. No, we prefer a "good economy and wise leadership." We want the story, not the facts.
He begins at the beginning noting how from the very start, we chose to be different than our colonial masters. We developed a way of speaking that was "American". If, as some scientists have predicted, the two forms of English continue to separate, American English may replace the mother tongue.
Bryson is full of little-known facts (some disputable) but one of his main thesis is that despite the size of the continent our own brand became more uniform within a few years than that spoken in the small mother country today. We made learning and speaking a uniform English a second religion. He notes that our incredible industrial energies produced inventions and new names which continues today. The book not only looks at the history of the tongue but at specific areas (entertainment, politics, commerce, religion) in which wehave produced our own peculiar speech. All in all a delightful read.

This book is a wonderful and very witty look at the English language and how it has evolved in America. Did you ever have an English teacher that lectured you about the use (or more likely misuse) of a certain word? Forget all of that! (Or at least loosen up about it!) This book is a testament to the fact that language is alive and a reflection of the culture that uses it.
Bryson walks you through American history as he presents story after story usually leaving you laughing and often simply just amazing you with how some word came into common usage. As he tells his story of the English language in America, you will probably learn more about American history than you ever knew before--and all of it is very entertaining.
Don't miss the amazing story of Squanto, the Indian who helped the Pilgrims survive at Plymouth, Massachusetts. There is more to Squanto's story than you think and it is just one of hundreds of gems that Bryson has uncovered.
This is a fast reading, educational, and very fun book.

Most of the 3- and 2- star reviews cover what I would say, in general. This book really doesn't give that much etymological information as opposed to "debunking" what Mr. Bryson calls myths. As one other reviewer noted, he relies rather heavily on Howard Zinn; so, if you agree with Zinn's People's History, you will enjoy this book more than one that doesn't subscribe to that particular viewpoint. Even though there is much humor to be enjoyed, it is obvious that the author does not care for religion or religious people at all. This leads to many simple errors such as conflating the Puritans and the Pilgrims over and over again. Not to mention that he equates those that can't read a box of cornflakes with those that prefer the Bible to unscientific philosophical materialism. His leanings are transparent only after you get into the book. If you are expecting some type of objective look at the uniqueness of American English, I believe that you will be disappointed. To his credit, he does recognize the dangers of the PC movement. I wonder how he feels today (2009), 15 years after he wrote that, to see the harm that has come from it.

First off, let me say that Bill Bryson is my favorite author. His books are always fun, educational reads. Made in America is no different. Before cracking this book, though, I was worried it might be a rare dud by Bryson. How could reading words about the evolution of words be anything other than a natural sleep aid? Thankfully it was engaging and even provided interesting tidbits of American history.

Bill Bryson's Made in America is a joy from start to finish. The only problem is that it may be slow reading as you will want to call all your friends after every page to say, "Did you know ..." (A brief warning: They will begin to be annoyed if you do this too often but just try and stop yourself). The book is more than an informal history of the English Language in the United States (as per the subtitle) as it covers all of American history, both political and social, in the author's delightful style. One story will lead into another and you will have forgotten where you began but the ride will always be worth it. Before your very eyes he will dispel many of the myths of America and build up America with some solid truths. An wonderfully funny and smart work.

I'm not a student of the English language, though the history of words does interest me, therefore I've tried to read William Safire's books but with little success. I picked up this book only because of Bill Bryson. The book is not what you think, "An Informal History," describes the book exactly. Bryson fills the book with more historical antidotes than a formal study of the English language in the United States.
Bryson takes you along for a history of the United States and how our language has changed from English into its current form today. The other half of the book contains chapters dealing with specific topics such as names, the movies and cooking. Each of the subjects deals with the words and phases that entered the language at the time or involving the subject.
There are some reviews that question Bryson's accuracy on some of the items, and this book is not filled with Bryson's usual humor, but the writing is enjoyable with just the right amount of wit throughout. Make sure you check out the chapter dealing with Puritan morality!

This book is a wonderfully entertaining look at the development of the American version of the English language. I generally find Bryson's style enjoyable, although there have been exceptions (notably, "Lost Continent") and this one is almost as good as "A Short History of Nearly Everything". It does beg for an update, given that it was witten in 1994, and not only have there been many words added to the lexicon since then, but some of his comments on the health of the American economy might need revisiting in light of the last 3 years. But on balance, I have to say it was one of the most enjoyable and enlightening books I've read in a long time.

As usual, Bill Bryson is informative, witty, and brilliant in his relaying of this history of the United States. I had to dock him a star in the ratings this time out because this is billed, based on the title, as a history of the English language in America. It is more appropriately described as a brief history of America and its culture, with some occasional attention to the language. Since I bought it due to a recent interest in word origins, I was mildly (and only mildly) disappointed at the lesser degree of attention paid to etymology. However, since I've read most of Bryson's other books and can't get enough of his writing style and his no-nonsense approach to fact-finding, and since many of the stories he relates really are quite fascinating, the book is still a very welcome addition to my library.

After reading "The Lost Continent," Bryson's often whining and largely overrated travelogue on small-town America, I hesitated before picking this one up. However, this is a very enjoyable book. Ostensibly a study of American English, its development and impact on the English language in general, this book is more of a compendium of linguistic facts and historical trivia that cover the entire scope of U.S. history from the colonial period to the present. Bryson quite unabashedly plunders the works of historians, other scholars and writers who dealt with the same subjects, so what he offers here is hardly new. But the presentation and organization are impeccable. While informing us of the origins of many words and expressions common to American English, he also provides a wealth of particularly useful information on things like American cuisine or the origins of America's highway system and car culture (one of my only criticisms is that he failed to mention the origin of quintessential car-related Americanisms like "rumble seat" or "to ride shotgun"). Bryson's engaging writing style and dry humor keep the book moving, so it is never dull and always very amusing - it seriously lives up to that old cliché about how learning can be fun.

This is by far my favorite book by Bill Bryson. I bought this for my wife who is a devotee of word derivations, but found that it sated my interest in history, and also provided a multitude of fun, and interesting, facts about popular culture.
Unlike most of Bryson's works this is a serious scholarly effort, but is written in an entertaining rather than academic fashion. Also, unlike other Bryson works this is less opinionated, and uncharacteristically celebrates the many fascinating and admirable factors in the evolution of a distinct American culture.
While his typical sardonic humor comes through it is more understated, and not at all unkind.
A fun and educational book that you will want to leisurely enjoy a chapter at a time, and not necessarily in sequential order.

I can truly say that I read every word of this delightful, well-presented informal history, and as a former Scot, was debunked of many myths and misconceptions I'd held about America, so much so that I'm noticing a new awareness, enthusiasm for and understanding of my chosen country after 32 years here. This book is so full of interesting detail, written in a way that no one group of people is the loser (i.e., we have all contributed), that it is impossible not to read it all the way through with enjoyment and to feel regret when one reaches the last page. This is how history should be taught to our children. Captivating in its scope and interest (the humanitarian, humorous and charming underlying voice of Bill Bryson throughout is an endearing presence), this great little book contains everything to enrich our awareness, and encourage reflection while providing a handy rationale (e.g., the reason for Levitt's building of tract homes to provide affordable housing -- equipped with appliances -- during the 50's). The chapter about the Wright brothers was so compassionate in its understanding of Orville and Wilbur that I was reduced to tears.

If you have read Bryson before--this is more of the same, and you'll love it; if not, be warned, this guy could make a snake laugh; you'll find yourself annoying family and even strangers, reading them hilarious paragraphs. Worse, you may find yourself imitating his style, making snarky comments that get you in trouble. A sample: Bill seated himself in a restaurant, despite a sign saying, "Wait to be seated." When the waitress commented sourly, "Well, I see you seated yourself," he replied brightly, "Yes! And I dressed myself too!" You can see what hot water that could get you into...
But it's more fun than most of life, read him and be refreshed.

I've been reading this book, and while it is a good book of opinion on how certain neologisms and Americanisms came to be, I've found enough inaccuracy to make me question the rest. No major city named after Jefferson? A state capital (Jefferson City) doesn't count? Bryson warns readers at the beginning that this is a ramble through his topic, and so it is. Enjoyable, and often true, but I wouldn't quote it as sole-source gospel.

Bill Bryson's book, "Made in America", is thoroughly enjoyable on many levels. First, he blithely debunks many of our folk legends - legends which we learn as schoolchildren and carry with us through life as if they were fact. Things like: the Puritans actually landing on Plymouth Rock; the ringing of the Liberty Bell on independence day; Patrick Henry's famous death-defying words about liberty or death, just to name a few. If these anecdotes are as true as he claims, then our school history textbooks seem canned and artificial by comparison.
Second, by saying aloud the early American pronunciations that Bryson describes, the reader can clearly grasp how 18th century colonists sounded in speech.
Third, Bryson's wry style gives the reader a good laugh on just about every page - a comparable textbook on early American language would never do that.
However, it's very important to keep in mind the word 'informal' in the book title. Several geographical errors in the 'Names' chapter led me to realize the potential number of inaccuracies in such a thick book. For instance, in that chapter he mentions the towns of Ipswich and Agawam as being quite close to each other in Connecticut. In fact, the two towns are in Massachusetts, on opposite sides of the state. One quick glance in an atlas by Bryson's editor would have cleared that up.
So read this enjoyable book for its humorous take on history, and not as a scholarly work.

Made in America is recomended especially for the etymological nerd at heart. Bryson takes a look at word development specifically in America and how various countries/cultures influenced American English and word origins.

Portions of history are interspersed as well which provide a nice respite from a purely etymological perspective on words. Bryson's humorous writing style makes learning the history of words somewhat fun. At times, one needs to wade through monotonous parts and using a skimming reading technique is advised.

First of all, I'm incredibly impressed and would love to see the process that goes into creating a book with this much information. It is really astounding how much ground is covered and how much information can be gleaned from this book. That said, and moreso than his other books I have read, it lacks any sort of connecting story. It's facts followed by history followed by science followed by more facts....it was a slog to get through. Enjoyed much of the information, but it took forever to get through this book.

Made In America is a delightful look at American history through language, or perhaps the American language through history. Bryson wanders all over the map (both literally and figuratively)with his tales of linguistic and social history. There are chapters on everything from Native American place names to the movies, from housing to advertising. Full of tidbits for any historical writer, and entertainment for any reader.

"Made in America" by Bill Bryson is the authoritative source on "American English". It not only explains how it differs from standard English, but it explains where words, phrases and the overall language came from. Ever wonder why we say "backwater town" or "the real McCoy"? Mr. Bryson explains it all with a sense of humor that makes reading this book such a joy.

This book really engages the reader and invites them to come along this informal history of English. If you want to know how and when a word came into popular culture, read this book. There are so many fun stories associated with many of the words which really keeps the book moving. Yes, I'm not terribly interested in the etymology of words, and didn't care about the parts where he would talk about prefixes and the sort. But as a whole, this book is a fun yet fact-filled read.

After immensely enjoying The Mother Tongue, I had high hopes for Made in America. Sadly, Mr Bryson let me down.

First, I expected a history of the development of American English. For the first chapter or so, it went that way, and then it became a popular history of the US with a little "then some words were created" thrown in. As a popular history, it was hit-and-miss; I think that was caused by Mr Bryson organizing his book thematically instead of chronologically. I suspect this book was a compilation of essays published in England, which presented too much work to reorganize for a book.

This suspicion leads me to my second major critique, which is Mr Bryson's unsympathetic view of Americans. Some of this disdain for folks who simply want to make a living in today's world and enjoy a weekend, or who live along "society's margins," was more apparent in A Walk in the Woods, but you can see the seed of that attitude in this book in throwaway comments about religious people. I think he was much more sympathetic to the "average" Englishman in Notes from a Small Island than he is to the "average" American here. I'm leery about reading I'm a Stranger Here Myself for this reason.

Amazingly, I think his discussion of the PC movement was pretty good. One of the constants of the English language is that it's always changing, and that we shouldn't hold to outdated elements of speech just because they've always been around. At the same time, change isn't always necessarily progress, and we shouldn't change language just because a small number of people find offense. The tempest that pops up every couple of years about the word "niggardly" is a cautionary tale about giving the ignorant access to megaphones. Mr Bryson didn't draw the line where I would have, but he gets credit for drawing a line.

Bottom line: It's not a bad book, but not among Mr Bryson's best. If you're new to his work, read Notes from a Small Island, The Mother Tongue, or A Short History of Everything, all of which are marvelous.

As with his other works,it is very informative and flows nicely. The wide areas he covers make it interesting reading and difficult to put down. BUT, the small type face and lack of contrast between the ink and cheap paper on which it is printed made it a real effort to get through what should have been a five star read!

well-researched (no surprise from Bill Bryson), intelligent, interesting and sometimes funny, this is a nice light read for anyone interested in linguistics, Americanisms, food history and several other topics (also chapters on sex, movies, travel, politics etc)...a funny little book on the lighter side of American history

In typical Bryson style, Made in America is a comprehensive look at the evolution of American English and the culture surrounding much of the evolution.

However, unlike his travel books or A Brief History, this book struggled to captivate me. I blame the many lists of words that are present in the book (I occasionally skipped pages at a time) and the fact that this book caters for an American audience, not a general audience.

A pity. This is Bryson's only book that I haven't thoroughly enjoyed, nay, loved!

As an Aussie who LOVES traveling within the USA, I marveled at the insight that Bill Bryson has about American culture that outsiders see, both the wonderful and the cringe worthy. It also gave me lots tips of places to visit on our next visit, such as Autumn (OK Fall !!!) in New Hampshire.

An enjoyable book about the origins of words in the United States. Bryson's style is entertaining, and this does not read like a scholarly book (which it really is!). There's so much information here, starting with the arrival of Pilgrims on the Mayflower to modern times. I really liked this book, and learned a lot, without being bored in the process. Highly recommended!

This popular history of the American version of the language is better written than most of his other books -- even though, as usual, he spends half his time in digressions. First, there are several chapters about the early history of North American settlement, with language covered almost as an afterthought, then several chapters on our early national history, then on the westward movement, then on the effects of immigration on the development of English, and so on. Later chapters cover the influences of politics and war, of technological change, and of advertising and the movies. All this is interesting, in a anecdotal way, but those reviewers who touted this book as "scholarly" are dead wrong. He scatters lots of words through each chapter but seldom discusses their provenance. There are a great many footnotes and a lengthy bibliography, but not one bit of originality.

The book came to me from a "Wordsmith" who told me I "had to" read it and gave me her copy on loan. So, I took it along on a long airplane journey meaning to gloss over it and return it to its owner, just another book about words. They can be terribly trite.

WOW! I was totally taken by Bryson's wit. My infreqent challenges to his thesis were no barrier to my enjoyment of his charming presentation. None the less, everything he presented had not only the color of accuracy, but the soundness of educated speculation.

I plan to return my benefactor's original and buy a copy for myself.

It was fun to read! I offer it to others with long plane rides ahead. It will shorten them drastically!

AJK

I found "Made in America" to be an enjoyable read. More of the book is taken up with historical contexts than etymologies, but very interesting and informative nonetheless. As one who is routinely irked by the tendency of many non-American native speakers of English to denigrate the way Americans talk and write, I appreciated the validation of American "English" as a dynamic and creative langue in its' own right.

I have read almost everything Bryson has written and this is just another great book. He is an amazing author that can combine learning with a LOT of humor. His ability to translate humor to the page is a very rare gift and I look every few months online to see if he has published anything new.

I was disappointed with this book, not so much on its merit but because it was not what I was expecting. I was hoping for a more scholarly history of how the English language developed in America. This is really more like a loose collection of historical anecdotes that explain how certain words or phrases came into American English, the kind of "and that's why we call it _____" stories. Some of these stories are interesting bits of Americana, but this book does very little to explain how or why American English differs from British, Australian, or New Zealand English. Not a bad book, just make sure it's what you are looking for.

This book single-handedly interested me in etymology and linguistics. Bill Bryson turns his well-known ability at writing humor and travel literature, and applies with ease toward the English language. Neither this, nor his other work "The Mother Tongue", should be missed!

I love language and all its peculiarities and variations. Scholarly works like David Crystal's Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language are great reference books. So is this, in a very different way. Not only is it a good "people's history" of some aspects of US history, it is one of those books you reach for when your 'favourite' language pedant starts waxing on about how terrible it is that noone speaks's proper any more, or "the kids of today..." As an Australian, and therefore being trilingual (British, American and Australian English) I love to be able to stop some fool in their tracks with the information that some 'vulgar Americanisms' are actually much older forms of English that were transported and survived, at the same time as English mutated in its homeland. The Grammar Pedants won't have it that English is a living language, that usage, spelling and grammar 'rules' change ... this book shows how it does and also demonstrates how some of the most common words we use to deal with life in our age were once US-invented neologisms or even slang. All this (and more) delivered in Bryson's wry and ironic (read witty) tone.

The book came to me from a "Wordsmith" who told me I "had to" read it and gave me her copy on loan. So, I took it along on a long airplane journey meaning to gloss over it and return it to its owner, just another book about words. They can be terribly trite.

WOW! I was totally taken by Bryson's wit. My infreqent challenges to his thesis were no barrier to my enjoyment of his charming presentation. None the less, everything he presented had not only the color of accuracy, but the soundness of educated speculation.

I plan to return my benefactor's original and buy a copy for myself.

It was fun to read! I offer it to others with long plane rides ahead. It will shorten them drastically!

AJK

I found "Made in America" to be an enjoyable read. More of the book is taken up with historical contexts than etymologies, but very interesting and informative nonetheless. As one who is routinely irked by the tendency of many non-American native speakers of English to denigrate the way Americans talk and write, I appreciated the validation of American "English" as a dynamic and creative langue in its' own right.

I have read almost everything Bryson has written and this is just another great book. He is an amazing author that can combine learning with a LOT of humor. His ability to translate humor to the page is a very rare gift and I look every few months online to see if he has published anything new.

I was disappointed with this book, not so much on its merit but because it was not what I was expecting. I was hoping for a more scholarly history of how the English language developed in America. This is really more like a loose collection of historical anecdotes that explain how certain words or phrases came into American English, the kind of "and that's why we call it _____" stories. Some of these stories are interesting bits of Americana, but this book does very little to explain how or why American English differs from British, Australian, or New Zealand English. Not a bad book, just make sure it's what you are looking for.

This book single-handedly interested me in etymology and linguistics. Bill Bryson turns his well-known ability at writing humor and travel literature, and applies with ease toward the English language. Neither this, nor his other work "The Mother Tongue", should be missed!

Bill provides an excellent insight into the American psyche as well as indepth research and profound knowledge about almost every aspect of the American society. His book is a great source to enhance the understanding why American is the way it is and why Europeans and other 'outsiders' will have such a 'love-and-hate' relationship with the States. I recommend this book to everyone, who seeks more background information on American history, culture, economy, and arts. Besides being eloquently written, it is thoroughly amusing.

I believe Bill Bryson did a magnificent job in his book Made in America with outlining some points in history that we may not have as much of the whole story as we think we do from school. While he illustrates some untold truths of people and events we have for so long put on such a high pedestal his main point is to analyze the English Language in the United States. It is interesting how he manages to tie these to points together and helps one understand how the book flows and the history. My family has always taught me to think for myself and to keep an open mind because history is written by the victor and may not always be the whole truth. I do not think most people grow up with that kind of support and idealism and I think Bill Bryson points this out to many who seem to think that what they learned in school is the God spoken truth even if all the evidence in the world and common sense point otherwise.

I found that my theory of this seemed to be true on many occasions on where I had to interact and converse with my fellow classmates. Many had a hard time believing that there could be anything bad about certain historical figures that have been for so long up on a pedestal that they didn't believe that the people could have even errored. These historical figures are looked upon as Gods, not flawed humans. I noticed a conversation of two of my classmates on Thomas Edison, I believe, and they couldn't believe that all his inventions weren't his. They refused to believe that he could have even possibly have stole the ideas, and the reason for their disbelief, and I'm paraphrasing here, "Because I've never read anything like that in school" apparently they didn't realize that this class includes this book and is school, and "I didn't know him, so I'm just going to go off of what I've been told, and he's good in my book." It seems that people can be confronted with almost unlimited evidence and still say the sky is green.

However, this wasn't the first time I have experienced such things, my Grandmother makes a common example. She refuses to believe even under, again, almost unlimited evidence that Columbus was a bad guy. I have told her he was evil, and she gives me a cocky `I'm not going to believe anything you say because I'm older and know more' smile and says "Why? Because he discovered a country" And that is word for word what she said. Then I try to explain to her why he was evil, and all I get is her shaking her head and saying "Well, I don't believe that. I've never even heard of anything like that."

Of course, after taking a year of psychology I understand why all this is. It is hard for a human being to let go of great ideology of someone after being indoctrinated for so long. I myself have done it; I love my grandfather and for the longest time thought he could do no wrong, and I wouldn't listen to my mother when she tried to warn me it wasn't true. I found out the hard and very disappointed way that he is a racist. But I was a little surprised about my classmates' reaction. You see, the law of psychology in this case is that it is nearly impossible for a human being to let go of this kind of ideology after being indoctrinated for so long, so I expected it with my grandmother, but not young people who were still learning and were still supposed to be open minded.

In school we are often taught just the more wonderful things of the past and our often filled with lies to make everything seem golden as well. A good example of this was the story of one of my favorite professors, Professor Loewen. Professor Loewen was a college professor for American History at a state college. With his first lecture he would ask all the students a bunch of questions and every year he would get around the same statistics of about only an 11% minority being correct. The questions would mostly be on the false superiority of the white man and the opposite of the black man. Well, he began to wonder how they were all getting this false information. It turned out that the textbooks used very old data, and were not much younger themselves, and contained the false information. Well then, he set out to make a new high school text book that would be more accurate. He was very proud of his work and sent this text to the school board for approval. He was turned down 4 to 2. There were four white men on the board and two black men, guess who voted what. In the end he went to court because they wouldn't say why it was turned down. So when the judge finally asked the board why, the board turned to a certain page of a very old, very blurry photo and not very graphic photo of a lynching of a black man. The Boardman said he was afraid the picture would start riots in the school, and it happened so very long ago, why bring it up? The judge decided to answer the question and said "Well, it is a history book, and our state has had more lynchings than any in the country." Professor Loewen won his case.

Bill Bryson did a great job of tying language and history together, but he also tied in psychology, whether that was planned or unknowingly done I don't know. Either way, however, knowing the language at the time of the events gives us some clues into the minds of the people living in the times. He starts all the way from how a nursery rhyme will stay within a culture long after it's meaning has been forgotten all the way to the almost present day America where we are the richest country and European descent is quickly becoming a minority but far from this being a bad thing and most immigrants believe that if you live in America you should speak English (in other words, like everyone else) and become a productive citizen no matter what.

Bill Bryson points out tragedies of the past and almost present, but he all presents the hope in both. Yes, there were things that we shouldn't be proud of in the past, but it doesn't mean all of the past was bad. And yes, even in recent times we've done wrong, but that doesn't mean all our people are bad or the world is coming to an end. Bill Bryson simply points out that there were good things in the past, there were bad things in the past, there were things in between, some even comical, but this doesn't change who we are. It does change our perspective on ourselves and our nation though, in a sense we are no longer glorifying ourselves and godlike, but we are flawed and real. As long as we acknowledge the past we can move forward and we can progress individually and as a nation, because now we are no longer ashamed and we no longer hide. You weep for the victims of the past and you smile unto the survivors, but the most important thing is to not forget their story.

This book gives a fascinating account of the history of America from an unusual linguistic point of view. If you have any interest whatsoever in who we (Americans) are and how we came think and speak the way we do, yet don't wish to undertake an exhaustive study of American history, you couldn't find a better or more interesting book. Filled with particularly pertinent and amusing anecdotes (yet lacking antidotes, despite the comments of another reviewer), "Made in America" provides a surprisingly personal and memorable look at the the American experience.

This book is packed with information presented in a most relaxed narrative style. This is a paperback Encyclopedia Americana Lite. The sheer energy and enthusiasm of the book makes up for some minor irregularities (like, the original Mercedes was Daimler's daughter - she wasn't). Mr. Bryson carefully avoids professing his own political beliefs (whatever they are). Nor does he offer theories; with a genuine sense of humor, he will rather let the reader decide what to make of the facts.

Bryson continues his insightful,informative and amusing ways with Made in America. In this great book he answers many questions regarding American English usage and how so many idioms and expressions came into everyday usage. Anyone who uses words (even if only in everyday conversation) will enjoy his clever and interesting presentation.

Massapequa Dick

The book is a decent read. I found myself laughing out load on multiple occasions while reading it. As is typical with Bryson books there are a multitude of obscure facts and ironic tales. Good book but I was not drawn in enough to give it a full 5 stars.

Well written and entertaining history of the English language in America. I learned a lot I did not know about how words developed and adapted. Not everything was interesting but so much is covered that if you are at all curious about why we speak the way we do, I believe you would enjoy this book.

I guess I'm going against the grain here, 'caus I'm being critical of the style of this book.
Being a fan of Bryson's travelogs, I eagerly began reading this work. OK in the initial chapters there were numerous sprinklings throughout of ...'this word derived from this Spanish term ... and was first used in 1782' and such like. Alas as the chapters wore on, (and they did) this fixation continued and increased with the result that the story was continually derailed and sidlined by constant (and wordy) passages about hundreds of American word origins - UURGH.
By around page 120, I adopted the approach of simply overlooking great chunks of text where the italics warned of another impending word fixation.
Between this stuff, was an intersting and obviously very well researched work about the development of the Americal nation.
Couldn't the editors/publisher have taken a firmer hand here and purged this book of all this frilly and distracting 'word bog'?
As I say, perhaps I'm in the minority here - but this style spoilt an otherwise good read.

Bill Bryson's zest for life is made manifest in the books he's written on pretty much whatever catches his interest. This admirable quality has resulted in quite a lot of enjoyable reading, as he's educated himself on distant places, science, etymology and such, and produced books about them.

This one, sadly, is disappointing. It is a rote run-through of American history, of the "cherished myths debunked" school of history writing from the Sixties. He's read his Howard Zinn, and it shows. This dated approach is too, well, too dated to give the expected pleasure to this new Bryson fan.

Politics intrudes most in the final chapters. For instance, the pages on the Cold War could have been used to introduce a lot of useful terms, such as "peacenik", "peace offensive", and "red diaper baby." But the liberal Bryson instead renders the contest with Communism as an idiotic greedfest for big business, and dwells on military double-speak from the Vietnam war. More oddly, he defends the early 1990s wave of political correctness, and its assault on the language he professes to love. Tepid, euphemism-ridden, colorless, and self-pitying pc-speak was never an invention of humorists, as he claims at one point, though it was satirized in a couple of books he claims are the source of the outrage. Strange...

Hey, some books should best be left to the pros. Simple as that.

I started this book yesterday. Today I tossed it across the room in disgust. Mr. Bryson's bias for things English and against things American once again rears it's ugly head. If he ever gets over this malady he would have something useful to say. Circumlocution, as Ambrose Bierce said, is a literary trick whereby the writer who has nothing to say breaks it gently to the reader. Mr. Bryson has added nothing of value with this book. Everything he had to say on the topic was in Mother Tongue. If you have any interest in this area stick with Mother Tongue, it's the much better choice.

I am very non-political, and I don't buy or read political books. I don't want to hear anyone's opinion on political issues, left or right leaning. I loved "Short History..." and was therefore eager to read "Made in America". "Short History..." was wonderfully factual and devoid of editorial pollution. As usual, in "Made in America", Bryson imparts lots of great, well researched information. However, the political rants started kind of early but were mild at first. This built to a full blown rant for the last hour or two of the audio book. By the end, I felt like I was listening to the lunatic fringe. I have bought my last Bryson book.

Bill Bryson once again writes a book that is supposed to be funny but just isn't. In Made in America he apparently tries take selected historical events in American History and then dig for any negative information about it that he can find. The only person he had anything good to say about was Benjamin Franklin.
There are a few slightly amusing facts about word origins and advertising. But for the most part it is just a bunch of negative trivia.