Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries

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 dont 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 factsfor example, the first documented usage of OMG was in a letter to Winston Churchilland Stampers own stories from the linguistic front lines (including how she became Americas 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.