About the Author

The editor and historian CHARLES L. CUTLER (1930-1999) was a lifelong student of American history and Native American contributions to the English language. During his distinguished career he wrote several other books on American language and history, including Connecticut's Revolutionary Press and O Brave New Words! Native American Loanwords in Current English.

Reviews

Late author and journalist Cutler (Connecticut's Revolutionary Press), who died in 1999 at 69, was a much appreciated contributor to magazines like American Heritage and American History Illustrated. Following his popular look at the survival of Indian language in everyday American speech, O Brave New Words!: Native American Loanwords in Current English, this posthumous book leans heavily on an unscholarly bibliography that includes items like recent articles from This Old House magazine, Reader's Digest and many other secondary journalistic sources, mixed indiscriminately with more reliable ethnographical research. Divided into 14 sections like "Shelter," "Clothing," "Food from Plants," "Domesticated Animals" and "Artifacts," the book deals with specialized Indian terms along with those that have entered common usage in today's English. There are short essays on slang terms we hear in English like "muck-a-muck" (an important person, from the Nootka Indian term mak (a) mak, meaning a choice section of whale meat) or hooch (alcohol, from the Hutsnuwu Indian word hoochinoo, an intoxicating beverage). There are also essays on Indian terms, like tepee and wigwam, that mean nothing in English except their original Indian significance. The easygoing tone of a magazine article can seem lightweight stretched out over an entire book. While perhaps appealing to younger readers, this book will not hold the more serious and adult reader. (Apr.) Forecast: The hoopla over Nigger (Forecasts, Jan. 21) may lead to heightened interest in etymology's racial and ethnic aspects, which could bring readers to this book. The gap between Cutler's death and the appearance of this volume may lead some readers to speculate about how much it reflects his final intentions. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.