Drawing on information collected during the 2000 Census, this latest brief from the Census Bureau looks on language use and English-speaking ability across the country. Authored by Hyon B. Shin and Rosalind Bruno, this 11-page report begins with a brief discussion of the questions asked about language use on the 2000 Census reporting form. The initial findings include the fact that approximately...

H.L. Mencken, a journalist who was one of the most celebrated American writers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was often referred to as “The Sage of Baltimore”. Writing in a number of Baltimore’s daily papers, Mencken developed an acerbic wit and a penchant for syllogisms that would serve him well for decades. As a defender and scholar of American English, Mencken wrote “The American...