Our next virtual book club is just around the corner! We’re meeting tomorrow, Thursday, May 13 from 7–8:30 p.m. in the book_club channel in Slack.
During this event, we will discuss Word By Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper. Please join us if you’ve read the whole book, part of it, or none at all. We welcome your discussion!
We hope you will join us!
When
Thursday, May 13
7-8:30 p.m. EST
Where
Book_club channel in Slack
About the book
This book explores the lives of lexicographers, the people behind the neutral definitions of words like love, cynical, and birdstrike, and describes the various ways they perfected their drafts of said definitions. Stamper’s exposé of what it takes to write dictionaries for a living humorously approaches topics like how to define big and small words (especially the small words), the credentials it takes to work at Merriam-Webster, why lexicographers don’t start defining words at the letter A, why it takes 18 months to define the top 10 most-searched words, or how the beauty of the English language extends beyond its complex grammatical rules (it’s okay to end your sentences with prepositions, people!). If you’ve read Word By Word, you’ll appreciate my use of it’s just there.
About the author
Kory Stamper loves, really, really, loves, English. Stamper is a graduate of Smith College, where she earned an interdisciplinary major in Latin, Greek, Norse, Old English, and Middle English. After graduation, she secured a job with Merriam-Webster where she worked for 20 years as an editorial assistant and later as associate editor. Catch her on Netflix’s 2021 series, The History of Swear Words, online at https://korystamper.wordpress.com/, or on Twitter at @KoryStamper.
