Never enough words

the long version

As Jeffrey McQuain illustrates in this history of the American language, there are Never Enough Words. Chronicling American English from its first deviations from the King's English to today's cyberlanguage, he delves into our linguistic history to show how a new American language was invented and re-invented over the centuries from colonial times to today. Along the way, he demonstrates for the first time how specific characteristic American traits are directly connected to the terms we have coined.