Word by Word

Kory Stamper is a lexicographer (that is, a writer and editor of dictionaries) at Merriam-Webster (the dictionary). She has written and appeared in the "Ask the Editor" video series at Merriam-Webster, and has traveled around the world giving talks and lectures on language and lexicography. Her writing has appeared in a number of publications, including The Washington Post, The Guardian and The New York Times. A medievalist by training, she knows a number of languages, most of them dead. She drinks more coffee and owns more dictionaries than is good for anyone

出版者:Pantheon

作者:Kory Stamper

页数:320

出版时间:2017-3-14

价格:USD 26.95

装帧:Hardcover

isbn号码:9781101870945

图书标签:语言lexicography语言相关merriam-websterlinguisticsdictionary1非虚构

Do you have strong feelings about the word "irregardless"? Have you ever tried to define the word "is"? This account of how dictionaries are made is for you word mavens.

Many of us take dictionaries for granted, and few may realize that the process of writing dictionaries is, in fact, as lively and dynamic as language itself. With sharp wit and irreverence, Kory Stamper cracks open the complex, obsessive world of lexicography, from the agonizing decisions about what to define and how to do it, to the knotty questions of usage in an ever-changing language. She explains why small words are the most difficult to define, how it can take nine months to define a single word, and how our biases about language and pronunciation can have tremendous social influence. And along the way, she reveals little-known surprises--for example, the fact that "OMG" was first used in a letter to Winston Churchill in 1917.

Word by Word brings to life the hallowed halls (and highly idiosyncratic cubicles) of Merriam-Webster, a startlingly rich world inhabited by quirky and erudite individuals who quietly shape the way we communicate.

读后感

对这本书开始的印象来自在goodreads上面随意浏览2017年有趣的书，后来无意中在移动图书馆车里发现她，就拎回了家。 语言对我一直有着说不出的魅力，除了实用的方面，更多是纯粹的美感。字与字之间词与词之间碰撞出的美感，也许在每一种语言里有不同的表现形式，但美感本身则是...

对这本书开始的印象来自在goodreads上面随意浏览2017年有趣的书，后来无意中在移动图书馆车里发现她，就拎回了家。 语言对我一直有着说不出的魅力，除了实用的方面，更多是纯粹的美感。字与字之间词与词之间碰撞出的美感，也许在每一种语言里有不同的表现形式，但美感本身则是...

对这本书开始的印象来自在goodreads上面随意浏览2017年有趣的书，后来无意中在移动图书馆车里发现她，就拎回了家。 语言对我一直有着说不出的魅力，除了实用的方面，更多是纯粹的美感。字与字之间词与词之间碰撞出的美感，也许在每一种语言里有不同的表现形式，但美感本身则是...

对这本书开始的印象来自在goodreads上面随意浏览2017年有趣的书，后来无意中在移动图书馆车里发现她，就拎回了家。 语言对我一直有着说不出的魅力，除了实用的方面，更多是纯粹的美感。字与字之间词与词之间碰撞出的美感，也许在每一种语言里有不同的表现形式，但美感本身则是...

对这本书开始的印象来自在goodreads上面随意浏览2017年有趣的书，后来无意中在移动图书馆车里发现她，就拎回了家。 语言对我一直有着说不出的魅力，除了实用的方面，更多是纯粹的美感。字与字之间词与词之间碰撞出的美感，也许在每一种语言里有不同的表现形式，但美感本身则是...

用户评价

非常幽默，讀完也長了很多知識

海里捞针，不用看

作者的声音真的很flat，听着不太舒服。了解到了一些词典编纂工作者的故事。很可惜网络电子词典使得很多传统词典工作者失业了。可是，很多网络词典根本是抄袭了前人的成果，而且极不负责嘛。。。

詞彙量驚人的寫作（很合宜的「賣弄」），太可愛了，看到詞條形式的致謝又眼角一濕。

非常幽默，讀完也長了很多知識