Reddit mentions of Language Instinct, The

Not so casual and perhaps not exactly what you're looking for, but definitely read the Linguistics Wars by Randy A Harris. It's enjoyable, extremely rigorous (it came out of Harris's PhD dissertation) and very, very insightful: it digs really deep into one of the most controversial period of linguistics in the United States. The author even went through underground notes. The best part about it is that it doesn't require you to be a linguist but it's even better if you are; a lot of things in there you simply can't get from modern textbooks and you get to learn how linguistic ideas originated and evolved. He has a second edition coming out so you might wanna wait for that.

For something perhaps surprising and illuminating: read Metaphors We Live By by Lakoff and Johnson. Most people I know were impressed at how pervasive metaphors actually are in language and cognition. It's very intuitive and sensible once you get the gist of it. This one is quite specific though.

Finally, although now I don't quite agree with it, Language Instinct is what lured me into linguistics so definitely check it out.

These books are quite old now and obviously linguists know much more (although not nearly enough) about language today than they did back then. Claims are also often exaggerated (with the exception of the first one, I think) but they're fun to read and will interest you for sure.

Yep, I studied psycholinguistics in college. Note sure if you've already read it but Steven Pinker wrote a book called "The Language Instinct" that delves into this exact premise...that language has become an evolutionary process not unlike how kids learn to walk or lose their baby teeth or whatever. I never wound up doing anything with those studies but I found them to be fascinating, easily one of the best courses I took.

With regard to this particular TIL though, discovering this is a wet dream for a researcher in the field ;)

This a fantastic book about language that goes over this and a whole lot more. It is written in a way that really keeps you interested as well. Check it out.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Language-Instinct-Mind-Creates/dp/1491514981

there's a whole chapter on it in this book, which IMO is an excellent read all around.

Hi! The FAQ on the sidebar has links to some previous threads on this question. There's a good post here breaking down the different subfields so you can decide if you want to do more specific reading about one specific area. For a general overview of the field written for a popular audience, I always recommend Pinker's The Language Instinct.