We look forward to seeing you on your next visit to the library. Find a location near you.

Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries
(Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read)

Book Cover
Average Rating
5 star
 
(2)
4 star
 
(0)
3 star
 
(0)
2 star
 
(0)
1 star
 
(0)
Published:
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group 2017
Lexile measure:
1170L
Status:
Available from OverDrive
Description
“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.
Also in This Series
Formats
Adobe EPUB eBook
Works on all eReaders (except Kindles), desktop computers and mobile devices with reading apps installed.
Kindle Book
Works on Kindles and devices with a Kindle app installed.
OverDrive Read
Need Help?
If you are having problem transferring a title to your device, please fill out this support form or visit the library so we can help you to use our eBooks and eAudio Books.
More Like This
Other Editions and Formats
More Copies In LINK+
Loading LINK+ Copies...
More Details
Format:
Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read
Street Date:
03/14/2017
Language:
English
ISBN:
9781101870952
ASIN:
B01HA4P9VI
Lexile measure:
1170
Reviews from GoodReads
Loading GoodReads Reviews.
Citations
APA Citation (style guide)

Kory Stamper. (2017). Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

Kory Stamper. 2017. Word By Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

Kory Stamper, Word By Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2017.

MLA Citation (style guide)

Kory Stamper. Word By Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2017.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
Copy Details
LibraryOwnedAvailable
Shared Digital Collection32
Staff View
Grouped Work ID:
82951c17-e8f0-fb35-00e3-87c8a81877ad
Go To Grouped Work
Needs Update?:
No
Date Added:
Jun 12, 2018 16:56:15
Date Updated:
Dec 06, 2020 02:43:57
Last Metadata Check:
Mar 24, 2024 08:19:17
Last Metadata Change:
Feb 04, 2024 08:34:12
Last Availability Check:
Mar 24, 2024 08:19:20
Last Availability Change:
Mar 22, 2024 19:08:12
Last Grouped Work Modification Time:
Mar 29, 2024 02:17:20

OverDrive Product Record

images
    • cover:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/0111-1/{3F6B2EFF-96B6-4361-8EA1-D1D60CD2AEE8}Img100.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • thumbnail:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/0111-1/{3F6B2EFF-96B6-4361-8EA1-D1D60CD2AEE8}Img200.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover150Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/0111-1/3F6/B2E/FF/{3F6B2EFF-96B6-4361-8EA1-D1D60CD2AEE8}Img150.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover300Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/0111-1/3F6/B2E/FF/{3F6B2EFF-96B6-4361-8EA1-D1D60CD2AEE8}Img400.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
formats
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9781101870952
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 530504
      • name: Adobe EPUB eBook
      • id: ebook-epub-adobe
      • identifiers:
            • type: ASIN
            • value: B01HA4P9VI
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 530504
      • name: Kindle Book
      • id: ebook-kindle
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9781101870952
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 530504
      • name: OverDrive Read
      • id: ebook-overdrive
mediaType
eBook
primaryCreator
    • role: Author
    • name: Kory Stamper
title
Word by Word
dateAdded
2017-02-16T18:49:00-05:00
contentDetails
      • href: https://link.overdrive.com/?websiteID=141&titleID=2963510
      • type: text/html
      • account:
          • name: Sacramento Public Library (CA)
          • id: 1151
sortTitle
Word by Word The Secret Life of Dictionaries
crossRefId
2963510
subtitle
The Secret Life of Dictionaries
id
3f6b2eff-96b6-4361-8ea1-d1d60cd2aee8
starRating
4.1

OverDrive MetaData

isPublicDomain
False
formats
      • fileName: WordbyWord_9781101870952_2963510
      • partCount: 0
      • fileSize: 7509380
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9781101870952
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 530504
      • rights:
            • type: Copying
            • value: 0
            • type: Printing
            • value: 0
            • type: Lending
            • value: 0
            • type: ReadAloud
            • value: 0
            • type: ExpirationRights
            • value: 0
      • name: Adobe EPUB eBook
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: ebook-epub-adobe
      • onSaleDate: 3/14/2017
      • samples:
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: ebook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=3f6b2eff-96b6-4361-8ea1-d1d60cd2aee8&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
      • fileName: WordbyWord_2963510
      • partCount: 0
      • fileSize: 0
      • identifiers:
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 530504
            • type: ASIN
            • value: B01HA4P9VI
      • name: Kindle Book
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: ebook-kindle
      • onSaleDate: 3/14/2017
      • samples:
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: ebook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=3f6b2eff-96b6-4361-8ea1-d1d60cd2aee8&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
      • fileName: WordbyWord_9781101870952_2963510
      • partCount: 0
      • fileSize: 6802721
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9781101870952
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 530504
      • name: OverDrive Read
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: ebook-overdrive
      • onSaleDate: 3/14/2017
      • samples:
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: ebook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=3f6b2eff-96b6-4361-8ea1-d1d60cd2aee8&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
keywords
      • value: Education
      • value: Sellers
      • value: English
      • value: Reference books
      • value: students
      • value: Learning
      • value: language
      • value: dictionary
      • value: Nonfiction
      • value: autobiographies
      • value: webster
      • value: Words
      • value: Writing
      • value: beginning
      • value: ASL
      • value: Dictionaries
      • value: American
      • value: beginners
      • value: Autobiography
      • value: The
      • value: Workbooks
      • value: women
      • value: funny
      • value: vocabulary
      • value: for
      • value: textbooks
      • value: french
      • value: word
      • value: Sign
      • value: anniversary
      • value: adults
      • value: gifts
      • value: communication
      • value: biographies
      • value: spanish
      • value: Best
      • value: him
      • value: History
      • value: useless
      • value: Humorous
      • value: ESL
      • value: latin
      • value: Books
      • value: memoir
      • value: Lexicography
      • value: merriam
      • value: Drudge
      • value: biographies and memoirs
      • value: 2022
      • value: dictionary and thesaurus
      • value: dictionary english
      • value: word for word
creators
      • role: Author
      • fileAs: Stamper, Kory
      • bioText: Kory Stamper is a lexicographer who spent almost two decades writing dictionaries at Merriam-Webster. Her writing has appeared in The Guardian, The New York Times, New York Magazine, and The Washington Post, and she blogs regularly on language and lexicography at www.korystamper.com.
      • name: Kory Stamper
imprint
Vintage
publishDate
2017-03-14T00:00:00-04:00
isOwnedByCollections
True
title
Word by Word
fullDescription
“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.
gradeLevels
      • value: Grade 8
      • value: Grade 9
reviews
      • premium: False
      • source: The Atlantic
      • content: "[An] eloquent love letter to letters themselves. . . . A cheerful and thoughtful rebuke of the cult of the grammar scolds."
      • premium: False
      • source: Adrienne Raphel, The New Yorker
      • content: "Both memoir and exposé, an insider's tour of the inner circles of the mysterious fortress that is Merriam-Webster. Stamper leads us through her own lexicographical bildungsroman, exploring how she fell in love with words and showing us how the dictionary works, and how it interacts with the world that it strives to reflect."
      • premium: False
      • source: Mary Norris, best-selling author of Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen
      • content: "As a writer, Stamper can do anything with words. . . . You will never take a dictionary entry for granted again."
      • premium: False
      • source: The A.V. Club
      • content: "A fascinating, even enthralling, examination of the way words actually work in our language, warts and all."
      • premium: False
      • source: The New Yorker
      • content: "An unlikely page-turner. . . . Stamper displays a contagious enthusiasm for words and a considerable talent for putting them together."
      • premium: False
      • source: The Wall Street Journal
      • content: "Word by Word cherishes the dexterity involved in making dictionaries, and . . . proves refreshingly attentive to its human stories. Part of its quirky charm is a delight in the idiosyncrasies of others--not least Merriam-Webster's many correspondents."
      • premium: True
      • source: Publisher's Weekly
      • content:

        Starred review from December 5, 2016
        For those who love language, this debut from Stamper, a lexicographer at Merriam-Webster, will be a delectable feast. Stamper, who also produces the dictionary’s “Ask the Editor” video series, has drawn up a witty, sly, occasionally profane behind-the-scenes tour aimed at deposing the notion of “real and proper English” and replacing it with a genuine appreciation for the glories and frustrations of finding just the right word. Stamper claims to approach her subject irreverently, and she certainly does make fun of both language and those who peddle it for a living. But her teasing is belied by a real devotion to its spirit, if not to the letter of all the stuffy so-called laws. Liberally employing a host of wonderful words—foofaraw, potamologist—she declaims elegantly on the beauty and necessity of dialect, how to evaluate emerging words, and many other topics. Stamper is at her best when entertaining the reader with amusing etymologies, celebrating the contentiousness of grammar, and quoting annoying emails from an opinionated public. If she bogs down occasionally in the swamps of industry jargon, it’s easy to forgive her. As one of her colleagues notes, “Words are stubborn little fuckers.” However, Stamper corrals them to her purpose with such aplomb that readers might just feel like applauding. Agent: Heather Schroder, Compass Talent.

      • premium: True
      • source: Kirkus
      • content:

        January 1, 2017
        Strange words and how to find them.When Stamper first interviewed for a job at Merriam-Webster, she was excited. It was her dream job, and she got it. She was now a practicing lexicographer working at the oldest dictionary publisher in America. These "drudges at their desks" practiced a noble art, part creative process, part science. Her book is a "nitty-gritty, down-and-dirty, worm's-eye view of lexicography." Along with other "word nerds," Stamper writes and edits dictionary definitions, thinks "deeply about adverbs, and slowly, inexorably" goes blind. To be successful, you must, first and foremost, possess something called sprachgefuhl, or "a feeling for language." If you don't have it, you won't last six months. Stamper goes into great detail describing the inner workings of how dictionaries come into being, with each chapter focusing on a specific task or topic. She provides a short history of grammar and then spends an entire chapter on how much lexicographers hate the word "irregardless." The author also covers the history of dictionaries with a special shoutout to "His Cantankerousness," Samuel Johnson, whose 1755 dictionary set the standard for all future dictionaries. "Bitch" discusses how crude, vulgar, and embarrassing words get included, and other chapters deal with defining, small words, etymology, and pronunciation. And then there's the reading. After lexicographers answer all kinds of correspondence, they read everything, from magazines to TV dinner boxes to beer bottles and takeout menus. Stamper notes that the internet, which has put many dictionary publishers out of business, must be trolled for new words, too. She loves her work, and her enthusiasm adds a real zest to her tales of usage and the chase for words--e.g., "onymous," "cromulent," "vecturist," and "dope slap." Look them up. Those aficionados who love words and the language or who are big-time Scrabble fans will love this book, while others will feel like they're in over their heads.

        COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

      • premium: True
      • source: Library Journal
      • content:

        Starred review from March 1, 2017

        Merriam-Webster (MW) lexicographer Stamper helps write and edit the estimable products of one of America's premier dictionary publishers. Hungry word lovers will find this book a delicious, multicourse meal of word lore, the personal story of the author's life and career, and detailed backstory of the harrowing process by which dictionaries are produced. Her well-designed volume consists of 15 chapters, each about a word ("it's," "irregardless," "take," "bitch," "posh," "marriage," etc.) and its history in the dictionary. Discussion of each word illustrates a topic in language or in lexicography such as grammar, defining words, etymology, dating of words, pronunciation, authority, etc. The real appeal is in the charming stories of the words and the personally guided tour of the MW editorial process, told in Stamper's fresh and funny voice. Another noteworthy, recent insider look at the making of a major dictionary is John Simpson's The Word Detective, about his tenure as editor of the Oxford English Dictionary. VERDICT A satisfying dip in the ocean of words and a thoughtful consideration of current American English and dictionaries.--Paul A. D'Alessandro, Brunswick, ME

        Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

      • premium: True
      • source: Booklist
      • content:

        December 1, 2016
        Lexicography is not sexy, but in this spirited book about the science and art of making dictionaries, it is by turns amusing, frustrating, surprising, and above all, engrossing. Stamper is one of the lexicographers at Merriam-Webster, tasked with updating and creating dictionaries on an unforgiving editorial schedule. With wit and candor, she introduces us to the people behind the definitions, drinking terrible coffee made from orange foil packets as they labor away in near-total silence. It is perhaps unsurprising, given her line of work, that Stamper employs words with delightful precision in her writing. What is surprising is how enjoyable she makes reading about the drudgery of dictionary making. She illuminates the meaning and purpose of each portion of a dictionary entry and describes the pitfalls awaiting those who attempt to define an ever-changing language. Seen through Stamper's eyes, a dictionary is not only a reference source, but also a living linguistic record and a window into history. Word by Word offers marvelous insight into the messy world behind the tidy definitions on the page.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

      • premium: True
      • source: Publisher's Weekly
      • content:

        June 5, 2017
        Stamper narrates the audio edition of her witty look behind the scenes of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, where she is lexicographer. The book explores the messy work of editing a dictionary, covering different aspects of the process, including how words get added, who decides the pronunciation, and the challenges of defining everyday words. Stamper deftly shows the cultural, political, and historical implications that play into parsing the meanings of words, tracking usage, and keeping definitions concise. She playfully incorporates her favorite words—often rare and unusual—into the sentences thorough the book. Hearing her breezily employ words like cacafuego or sprachgefühl in the audio edition takes some getting used to, but her excitement and enthusiasm for her subject easily catches on. The most memorable moments are her wry recountings of the ridiculous efforts it takes to determine what a word means. A Pantheon hardcover.

popularity
1019
links
    • self:
        • href: https://api.overdrive.com/v1/collections/v1L1BWwAAAA2I/products/3f6b2eff-96b6-4361-8ea1-d1d60cd2aee8/metadata
        • type: application/vnd.overdrive.api+json
id
3f6b2eff-96b6-4361-8ea1-d1d60cd2aee8
starRating
4.1
images
    • cover:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/0111-1/{3F6B2EFF-96B6-4361-8EA1-D1D60CD2AEE8}Img100.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • thumbnail:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/0111-1/{3F6B2EFF-96B6-4361-8EA1-D1D60CD2AEE8}Img200.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover150Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/0111-1/3F6/B2E/FF/{3F6B2EFF-96B6-4361-8EA1-D1D60CD2AEE8}Img150.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover300Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/0111-1/3F6/B2E/FF/{3F6B2EFF-96B6-4361-8EA1-D1D60CD2AEE8}Img400.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
isPublicPerformanceAllowed
False
languages
      • code: en
      • name: English
subjects
      • value: Biography & Autobiography
      • value: Language Arts
      • value: Reference
      • value: Nonfiction
publishDateText
03/14/2017
otherFormatIdentifiers
      • type: ISBN
      • value: 9781101870945
mediaType
eBook
shortDescription
“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...
sortTitle
Word by Word The Secret Life of Dictionaries
lexileScore
1170
crossRefId
2963510
subtitle
The Secret Life of Dictionaries
publisher
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
bisacCodes
      • code: BIO026000
      • description: BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Memoirs
      • code: LAN029000
      • description: Language Arts & Disciplines / Lexicography
      • code: REF008000
      • description: Reference / Dictionaries