Enough Is Enuf: Our Failed Attempts to Make English Easier to Spell

A brief and humorous 500-year language history of the Simplified Spelling Movement from advocates like Ben Franklin, C. S. Lewis, and Mark Twain to texts and Twitter.

Why does the G in George sound different from the G in gorge? Why does C begin both case and cease? And why is it funny when a philologist faints, but not polight to laf about it? Anyone who has ever had the misfortune to write in English has, at one time or another, struggled with its inconsistent English orthography.

So why do we continue to use it? If our system of writing words is so tragically inconsistent, why haven't we standardized it with a new phonetic alphabet, brought it into line? How many brave linguists have ever had the courage to state, in a declaration of phonetic revolt: "Enough is enuf"?

The answer: many. In the comic annals of linguistic history, legions of rebel wordsmiths have died on the hill of spelling reform, risking their reputations to bring English into the realm of the rational. This essential guide to language and linguistics is about them: Mark Twain, Ben Franklin, Eliza Burnz, C. S. Lewis, George Bernard Shaw, Charles Darwin, and the innumerable others on both sides of the Atlantic who, for a time in their life, became fanatically occupied with writing thru instead of through, tho for though, laf for laugh, beleev for believe, and dawter for daughter (and tried futilely to get everyone around them to do it too).

Henry takes his humorous and informative chronicle right up to today as the language seems to naturally be simplifying to fit the needs of our changing world thanks to technology--from texting to Twitter and emojis, the Simplified Spelling Movement may finally be having its day.

This laugh-out-loud journey through our language's chaotic past reveals the forgotten rebels, presidential decrees, and comic failures behind the spelling we use today.

• Rebel Wordsmiths: Meet the passionate, and often eccentric, advocates for change, from founding father Benjamin Franklin to literary giants like Mark Twain and George Bernard Shaw.
• Presidential Meddling: Discover the untold story of how President Theodore Roosevelt tried to force simplified spelling on the U.S. government--and how the press and Congress fought back.
• The Birth of the Dictionary: Uncover the obsessive quest of Noah Webster to create a uniquely American dictionary, smuggling his own simplified spellings into its pages.
• From Texting to Twitter: Connect the dots from centuries-old reform movements to the shorthand of texting and emojis, and find out why the Simplified Spelling Movement may finally be winning.