Table of Contents

Prologue: In the beginning
1: To be or not to be
2: Time being
3: Being, as was
4: Have you been?
5: I am to resign
6: Has the doctor been?
7: How are you?
8: I've been with someone
9: Two and two is four
10: I might be being obsessive, but...
11: My kids are all grown up
12: Wannabes and has-beens
13: That is to say
14: You're cheeky, you are
15: Been and done it
16: Business is business
17: So be it
18: I live in Wales, innit?
19: So I was, like, wow
20: Woe is me
21: All shall be well
22: How old are you?
23: Is you is or is you ain't?
24: Oh no he isn't
25: Lane closed ahead
26: It's just a book, after all
Appendix: Old English pronunciations

About the Author

David Crystal is known throughout the world as a writer, editor, lecturer, and broadcaster on language. He has published extensively on the history and development of English, including The Stories of English (2004), Evolving English (2010), Begat: The King James Bible and the English Language (2010), The Story of English in 100 Words (2011), Spell It Out: The Singular Story of English Spelling (2012), Wordsmiths and
Warriors: The English-Language Tourist's Guide to Britain (with Hilary Crystal, 2013), and The Oxford Dictionary of Original Shakespearean Pronunciation (2016).

Reviews

The Story of Be does a brilliant job: it offers a language enthusiast an entertaining overview of the history of be along with social changes affecting its use, dialect features, and much more.
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