Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries (Hardcover)

Preface xi HRAFNKELL: On Falling in Love 3 BUT: On Grammar 23 IT'S: On "Grammar" 38 IRREGARDLESS: On Wrong Words 52 CORPUS: On Collecting the Bones 68 SURFBOARD: On Defining 94 PRAGMATIC: On Examples 125 TAKE: On Small Words 136 BITCH: On Bad Words 149 POSH: On Etymology and Linguistic Originalism 169 AMERICAN DREAM: On Dates 189 NUCLEAR: On Pronunciation 199 NUDE: On Correspondence 216 MARRIAGE: On Authority and the Dictionary 230 EPILOGUE: The Damnedest Thing 255 Acknowledgments 263 Notes 265 Bibliography 275 Index 281