Origins of the Specious: Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language

The authors take an "Oxford English Dictionary" look at explaining meanings of words and rooting out misconceptions. If someone has the audacity to insist that "data" should only be plural, just point them here to show that it has been acceptable as a singular for a long time. And that word that supposedly came from an an acronym or certain historical event? Well, it had been used long time before the event. Oops!

One prescient observation is that English is constantly changing, with new words being added, and acceptable usages changing. What is acceptable is determined by common usage. Many of the "quirks" of the language are caused by people successfully inflicting reforms of the language. (There seem to be a lot of first "latinizations" of words, leading to awkward spellings, as well as plenty of feaux-French pronunciations.) Some grammar "rules", like avoiding split infinitives and terminal prepositions are exposed as truly bogus attempts to Latinate a non-Latin language. American English is also shown to be in many cases more "conservative" than British English, adhering to structure that has since changed on the island.

It all makes for a great read, and amble evidence to through at an annoying editor or teacher that disrespects your attempts at innovative language.