
Enough Is Enuf
Our Failed Attempts to Make English Easier to Spell
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $19.79
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Johnny Heller
-
By:
-
Gabe Henry
About this listen
A brief and humorous 500-year 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 spelling.
So why do we continue to use it? If our system of writing words is so tragically inconsistent, why haven’t we standardized it, phoneticized it, 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 book 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.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2025 Gabe Henry (P)2025 HarperCollins PublishersPeople who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Girl in the Middle
- A Recovered History of the American West
- By: Martha A. Sandweiss
- Narrated by: Kate Handford
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1868, celebrated Civil War photographer Alexander Gardner traveled to Fort Laramie to document the federal government's treaty negotiations with the Lakota and other tribes of the northern Plains. Gardner, known for his iconic portrait of Abraham Lincoln and his visceral pictures of the Confederate dead at Antietam, posed six federal peace commissioners with a young Native girl wrapped in a blanket. The hand-labeled prints carefully name each of the men, but the girl is never identified. .
-
Into the Ice
- The Northwest Passage, the Polar Sun, and a 175-Year-Old Mystery
- By: Mark Synnott
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times bestselling author Mark Synnott has climbed with Alex Honnold. He’s scaled Mount Everest. He's pioneered big-wall first ascents, including the north-west face of the mile-high Great Trango Tower, and skied monster first descents. But in 2022, he realized there was a dream he’d yet to achieve: to sail the Northwest Passage in his own boat—a feat only four hundred or so sailors have ever accomplished—and in doing so, try to solve the mystery of what happened to legendary nineteenth-century explorer Sir John Franklin and his ships, HMS Erebus and Terror.
-
-
Excellent listen!!!
- By Anonymous User on 04-18-25
By: Mark Synnott
-
Lost at Sea
- Poverty and Paradise Collide at the Edge of America
- By: Joe Kloc
- Narrated by: David Baerwald
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the wake of the financial crisis, the number of anchor-outs living in Richardson Bay more than doubles as their long-simmering feud with the wealthy residents of Marin County—one of the richest counties in the country—finally boils over. Many of the shoreline’s well-heeled yacht club members and mansion owners blame their unhoused neighbors for rising crime on the waterfront. Meanwhile, local politicians accuse them of destroying the Bay Area’s marine ecosystem and demand their eviction.
By: Joe Kloc
-
Lower than the Angels
- A History of Sex and Christianity
- By: Diarmaid MacCulloch
- Narrated by: Diarmaid MacCulloch
- Length: 25 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few matters produce more public interest and public anxiety than sex and religion. Much of the political contention and division in societies across the world centres on sexual topics, and one-third of the global population is Christian in background or outlook. The issue goes to the heart of present-day religion.
-
Pronoun Trouble
- The Story of Us in Seven Little Words
- By: John McWhorter
- Narrated by: John McWhorter
- Length: 4 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With his trademark humor and flair, bestselling linguist John McWhorter busts the myths and shares the history of the most controversial language topic of our times: pronouns.
-
-
another great offering
- By ktxexa. Dfgg on 04-12-25
By: John McWhorter
-
The Gut-Brain Paradox
- Improve Your Mood, Clear Brain Fog, and Reverse Disease by Healing Your Microbiome
- By: Steven R. Gundry MD
- Narrated by: Steven R. Gundry MD
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dr. Steven R. Gundry, the New York Times bestselling author of the groundbreaking Plant Paradox series, shares compelling evidence that our gut microbiome is driving our thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and our mental, emotional, and neuronal health—and shows us how to heal our microbiomes to take back control of our minds.
-
The Girl in the Middle
- A Recovered History of the American West
- By: Martha A. Sandweiss
- Narrated by: Kate Handford
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1868, celebrated Civil War photographer Alexander Gardner traveled to Fort Laramie to document the federal government's treaty negotiations with the Lakota and other tribes of the northern Plains. Gardner, known for his iconic portrait of Abraham Lincoln and his visceral pictures of the Confederate dead at Antietam, posed six federal peace commissioners with a young Native girl wrapped in a blanket. The hand-labeled prints carefully name each of the men, but the girl is never identified. .
-
Into the Ice
- The Northwest Passage, the Polar Sun, and a 175-Year-Old Mystery
- By: Mark Synnott
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times bestselling author Mark Synnott has climbed with Alex Honnold. He’s scaled Mount Everest. He's pioneered big-wall first ascents, including the north-west face of the mile-high Great Trango Tower, and skied monster first descents. But in 2022, he realized there was a dream he’d yet to achieve: to sail the Northwest Passage in his own boat—a feat only four hundred or so sailors have ever accomplished—and in doing so, try to solve the mystery of what happened to legendary nineteenth-century explorer Sir John Franklin and his ships, HMS Erebus and Terror.
-
-
Excellent listen!!!
- By Anonymous User on 04-18-25
By: Mark Synnott
-
Lost at Sea
- Poverty and Paradise Collide at the Edge of America
- By: Joe Kloc
- Narrated by: David Baerwald
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the wake of the financial crisis, the number of anchor-outs living in Richardson Bay more than doubles as their long-simmering feud with the wealthy residents of Marin County—one of the richest counties in the country—finally boils over. Many of the shoreline’s well-heeled yacht club members and mansion owners blame their unhoused neighbors for rising crime on the waterfront. Meanwhile, local politicians accuse them of destroying the Bay Area’s marine ecosystem and demand their eviction.
By: Joe Kloc
-
Lower than the Angels
- A History of Sex and Christianity
- By: Diarmaid MacCulloch
- Narrated by: Diarmaid MacCulloch
- Length: 25 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few matters produce more public interest and public anxiety than sex and religion. Much of the political contention and division in societies across the world centres on sexual topics, and one-third of the global population is Christian in background or outlook. The issue goes to the heart of present-day religion.
-
Pronoun Trouble
- The Story of Us in Seven Little Words
- By: John McWhorter
- Narrated by: John McWhorter
- Length: 4 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With his trademark humor and flair, bestselling linguist John McWhorter busts the myths and shares the history of the most controversial language topic of our times: pronouns.
-
-
another great offering
- By ktxexa. Dfgg on 04-12-25
By: John McWhorter
-
The Gut-Brain Paradox
- Improve Your Mood, Clear Brain Fog, and Reverse Disease by Healing Your Microbiome
- By: Steven R. Gundry MD
- Narrated by: Steven R. Gundry MD
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dr. Steven R. Gundry, the New York Times bestselling author of the groundbreaking Plant Paradox series, shares compelling evidence that our gut microbiome is driving our thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and our mental, emotional, and neuronal health—and shows us how to heal our microbiomes to take back control of our minds.