"The only way to be sure what will happen next is to wait and see."

So ends Richard Bailey's Speaking American and also our tour of the English language that began with The Lexicographer's Dilemma and The Meaning of Everything. Bailey's book, Speaking, gets a little technical at times and is burdened by an awkward system for citations and footnotes, but the story it tells is fascinating and the many, many historical tidbits tucked away in his discussion of American English are delightful to read. The chapter on Chicago in the first half of the 20th Century is worth the price of the book all by itself (IMO). It goes on our list.

Speaking American: A History of English in the United States by Richard W. Bailey