How do you pronounce the stuff you pour on top of pancakes? Surp? Syr-up? Serep? The answer tells a lot about you. What do you call the thing in which you carry groceries? Bag? Sack? Poke? Again, the asnwer tells much about you, and your regional heritage. Cassidy and Hall have spent many years interviewing hundreds of people from all parts of the United States and literally "mapping" their speech patterns. This book series will be on the desk of every serious linguist in the nation. BUT -- it's surprisingly interesting reading. Want to know the origin of "the last rose of summer?" Interested in what "love bite" means? These and thousands of other interesting American words and phrases are found here. This is a word lover's Disney World.

Cassidy's book on Jamaican Creole, continues to be a source of valuable information for those persons interested in the roots of this Creole Language. It is wtitten so that not only linguists but even persons without a solid linguistics background can read, understand and appreciate the value of the language. I would recommend it as a must read for all those persons who continue to hold the view that JC is haphazard and structureless, and definitely for those who have a genuine interest in the Creole, whether for academic reasons, national, or just plain old information.

I thought the book was very interesting. It allow me to not only embraced Patois as a uniquelly cultural language, it also allowed me to feel the spirit and cultural diginity of Jamaican people. I've learned that this historical language cannot be and should not be described as a "broken-language" but a "nation-language" that brings me closer to my ancestors as an African-American woman. Reading this languages' origins helped me see more clearly the bonds the tie many of us to the same people as well as the same land. "OUT OF MANY, ONE PEOPLE" my life has been forever changed. Thank you.