# The Stories of English

Canonical: https://www.bookquiver.com/david-crystal/the-stories-of-english/9780141900704

![The Stories of English](https://quivercdn.com/covers/penguin/david-crystal/the-stories-of-english_978-01-4190-070-4.jpg?v=2026-04-23%2019%3A27%3A12)

- Book: [The Stories of English](https://www.bookquiver.com/david-crystal/the-stories-of-english) ([The Stories of English.md](https://www.bookquiver.com/david-crystal/the-stories-of-english.md))
- Authors: [David Crystal](https://www.bookquiver.com/david-crystal)
- Publisher: Penguin
- Medium: ebook
- ISBN: 978-01-4190-070-4
- Published: 2005-05-05
- Language: en_GB
- Binding: E-book

## Description

When and why did 'thou' disappear from Standard English? Would a Victorian Cockney have said 'observation' or 'hobservation'? Was Jane Austen making a mistake when she wrote 'Jenny and James are walked to Charmonth this afternoon'? This superbly well-informed - and also wonderfully entertaining - history of the English language answers all these questions, showing how the many strands of English (Standard English, dialect and slang among them) developed to create the richly-varied language of today.