Word by Word by Kory Stamper

Word by Word by Kory Stamper

"We think of English as a fortress to be defended, but a better analogy is to think of English as a child. We love and nurture it into being, and once it gains gross motor skills, it starts going exactly where we don't want it to go- it heads right for the goddamned electrical sockets."

With wit and irreverence, lexicographer Kory Stamper cracks open the obsessive world of dictionary writing, from the agonizing decisions about what to define and how to do it to the knotty questions of ever-changing word usage.

Filled with fun facts-for example, the first documented usage of "OMG" was in a letter to Winston Churchill-and Stamper's own stories from the linguistic front lines (including how she became America's foremost "irregardless" apologist, despite loathing the word), Word by Word is an endlessly entertaining look at the wonderful complexities and eccentricities of the English language.

Kory Stamper is a lexicographer who spent nearly two decades at Merriam-Webster producing dictionaries. Her work has featured in publications such as The Guardian, The New York Times, New York Magazine, and The Washington Post, and she maintains a language and lexicography blog at www.korystamper.com.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781101970263
ISBN 10	110197026X
Title	Word by Word
Author	Kory Stamper
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Random House USA Inc
Year published	2018-03-06
Number of pages	336
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.