Language in Action is a big book on a big subject, all about geolinguistics (who speaks what language or languages where and what that means in terms of culture and politics, trade and all other aspects of life) and also onomastics (the study of proper nouns, names in life and literature). Subjects addressed are Early American, US dialects, the differences between the British and American languages, English in India, Freshman English as a Second and Foreign Language, Burundi and French in Africa, various Celtic languages, Cuban Spanish, Dutch and English, the language of the Gilbert & Ellis Islands, Gobbledygook and jargon, Kamtok in Papua New Guinea, Spanglish, the placenames of the Dakotas, Norwegian and English, odd languages of Europe (living and dead), origins of 55 common expressions, Polish and Polish-Americans, rules of the language game, secret languages, Spanish regional languages, Suriname as a multilingual society, English in Switzerland, Yiddish and Yinglish, strange languages of Africa, classical languages, Amerindian names, names in business and real estate, the SoHo neighborhood of New York City, changing names, names for houses, names in magic, placenames of Iowa, word games, names in satire and in literary onomastics in general, Martin Amis' Money: A Suicide Note and satire as sociolinguistics, names in folklore, political language, slang in US politics, personal and national identity, and the language of minority politics-all in terms the average reader can easily understand.

Leonard R. N. Ashley delights readers with a collection of facts and folklore of the people of Queen Elizabeth I's era. He describes sports and pastimes, religion and superstition, cooking, life in town and country, and the rising bourgeois class. In chapters titled as "Cakes and Ale," "The Playhouse and the Bearbaiting Pit," and "Hey nonny nonny," Ashley paints an enlightening portrait of a time made memorable by Shakespeare and his contemporaries.