Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable fiction. Fact it is not.
Review: Although the book has some entertaining segments, the severity of the errors in it makes me wonder just what the author considers research. The chapter on swearing claims that Finnish has no swearwords, and that Finns have therefore chosen the word "ravintolassa", meaning "in the restaurant", for use as an obscenity. This is utterly ridiculous. A professional should have kept in mind that native speakers of the less widespread languages of the world enjoy comic relief by teaching foreigners nonsense words as swearwords, and obscene phrases as confessions of love. Even as a second-language speaker of English, I found flaws in his depictions of dialects, flaws which many reviewers have cited before me. The author seems to have researched his book with a beer in hand, never bothering to double-check any of his information. If viewed as fiction, this book has its moments. Fact it is not.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating, Funny, Thought-Provoking, A Few Errors
Review: As many other reviews have noted, while this book is very interesting, it does have some questionable information. Having lived in the South mu whole life, I have never heard anyone refer to a "grocery bag" as a tote. A tote bag is a sack that one brings in to be filled and then take home, but his suggestion that New England calls it a "sack" doesn't seem right. Other than other questionable "setreotypes", I really enjoyed the books.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent, readable text
Review: Bryson provides a great companion book for those teaching the origins of the language.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable and entertaining - shame about the errors
Review: I very much enjoyed this book. It provides a fascinating insight into the history and quirks of our language. Like many other readers, however, I was disappointed (and even shocked) at the errors in the book. Bryson's references to Australian linguistic influences are ridiculously inaccurate (for instance: we do say biscuit, not cookie, in fact it was one of my son's first words, and the use of the English spelling of words rather than the American is still by far the most common). His description of the Australian 'accents' are also questionable. I hope that in future editions Mr Bryson corrects the mistakes that I and my fellow readers from around the world have identified. Overall, a very enjoyable book.
Rating:
Summary: Great and loaded with terrific historical references!
Review: This was a great book. After reading Bryson's Walk in the Woods, I fell in love with his sophisticated humor and wonderful style of writing. He is great author! This was another mind pleaser
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining and interesting
Review: Who could imagine that a book about the English language could both engaging and genuinely funny? Well, this one is. It is both entertaining and scholarly. The chapter on names and swearing are both gems. Many things are answered for which we never knew we had questions!
Rating:
Summary: Should be required reading for High School
Review: I'm a junior in high school and picked up this book because I have a huge love for words, writing, and the English language. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and found Bryson to be very witty and entertaining. After reading many of the reviews here, I realized that some of the information may not be exactly correct, but it was still excellent in its context. Maybe Bryson could publish another edition with the corrections mentioned from your reviews. This would be extremely beneficial. Many of my friends stereotyped the book as "a boring history of English" before they ever read it. But after presenting them with a few of the humourous passages, they were delighted and begged me to loan them the book. I decided that if people could be excited about a book just because it was funny and yet learn so much about their mother tongue, it should be required reading. My favorite part was learning how some of the curious idioms of America came about. I had never heard of Cockney rhyming slang, and found it absolutely delightful. Well, as for myself I give it five stars, with or without the mistakes. Are we not all human?
Rating:
Summary: This should be required high school reading
Review: I'm a high school junior, and very interested in reading. I read this book and found it the most informative and entertaining book ever. My friend thought it would be just another boring history-type book. I read her a few passages, and now she is reading it.
Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly enjoyable and educational.
Review: If high-school texts were written by Bill Bryson, we might eliminate the drop out problem. "The Mother Tongue" is really a history book that uses language as a metric for change and for the myriad influences through the centuries. Since language is such an integral and defining component of any society, it makes a superb window into the gritty, human side of history. The amazing thing about this book is how damned funny it is. Bryson crack's a few jokes along the way but otherwise deadpans the narrative. Bryson's delightfully droll delivery somehow elevates the humor beyond easy description - and you get an education as well. Bryson's follow-on book, "Made in America" is just as good. I enthusiastically recommend both.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent overview of a world language for non-experts
Review: Tell your humor editor there's nothing funny about Welsh (lucky she's 3,000 miles away). This is a great overview of the English language and how it has developed over the centuries and in so many countries both as a first and a second language. Two minor quibbles: the author doesn't make clear that Welsh is a phonetic language, i.e. it's pronounced as spelt; he got a little baffled by English pubnames, e.g. "The First and Last" isn't a baffling name - it describes a pub on the outskirts of a town, so it's the first one you see when arriving and the last you see when leaving; and similarly "The Tumbledown Dick" is a reference to the overthrow of Richard Cromwell (what did you think it meant?) I recommend this book to everyone.
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