For anyone interested, the book "The Mother Tongue, English and How It Got That Way" by Bill Bryson is an amazing read. It's not, as you might expect, dry but interesting. Bryson is considered to be one of the better authorities on the English language.
For instance, he discusses common American words that the British have newly adopted but complain are crude and yet were, in fact, commonly used in Britain until they were dropped long ago. He claims that the "F" word is the most useful in the English language and explains why. Over 10,000 English words are of French derivation while words from the German are far fewer.
You can find it on Abebooks.com for less than $5 with free shipping.
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