Michael Erard

Michael Erard (born 27 December 1967)^[1] is an American non-fiction writer and journalist. He holds an M.A. (linguistics) and a Ph.D. (English) from the University of Texas at Austin.^[2]

Michael Erard
Born	(1967-12-27) 27 December 1967 (age 57)
Occupation	Non-fiction writer and journalist
Nationality	American
Alma mater	University of Texas at Austin
Notable awards	Linguistics, Language, and the Public Award 2016 (from the Linguistic Society of America)
Website
michaelerard.com

Notable works

Books

• Erard, Michael (2007). Um…: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean. New York: Pantheon.^[3][4]
• Erard, Michael (2012). Babel No More: The Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Language Learners.^[a] New York: Free Press.^[6][7][8]
• Erard, Michael (2025). Bye Bye I Love You: The Story of Our First and Last Words. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.

Articles

• Erard, Michael (2005). 'The Gift of the Gab'. New Scientist, 8 January, pp. 40–43.‍
• Erard, Michael (2012). 'King of the Hyperpolyglots'. The Morning News, 10 January.
• Erard, Michael (2012). 'The Polyglot of Bologna'. The Public Domain Review, 26 June.
• Erard, Michael (2016). 'Why Australia is Home to One of the Largest Language Families in the World'. Science, 21 September.
• Erard, Michael (2019). 'Pete Buttigieg’s Language Magic Is Textbook Polyglot Mythmaking'. The Atlantic, 29 April.

Notes

1. Published in the United Kingdom as Mezzofanti's Gift.^[5]