Word by Word

I hereby confess that I giggled my way through this book.

Word by Word is a serious non-fiction account of what it’s like to be a lexicographer, an employee of the dictionary company, Merriam-Webster, which is just what author, Kory Stamper is. Stamper’s writing style, while imparting accurate information about dictionary entries and how they come about is so engaging and so self-deprecating and downright humorous, that reading the entire book was a joy.

Non-fiction books, especially those providing information but even biographies can sometimes so overwhelm me with details that I often skip over paragraphs or pages in order to remain engaged. No problem with Word by Word. I don’t think I missed a single word – actually I read it word by word ;)

Author Kory Stamper begins the book telling us a little about her pre-work life and then about applying for a job at M-W and her training to become a proper lexicographer, who can take a word, find its origins, its pronunciation, its various spellings and meanings and so on, then craft a definition which includes all the various senses or meanings of that particular word and write them in the properly formatted version needed for the dictionary in a way which will not be conflicted, controversial or inflammatory but will still be understood and usable by the reader.

Lexicography is a scholarly pursuit, wherein words and meanings are always changing and new words are being coined at an accelerating rate. Hard to keep up! Before a dictionary is published it is already in need of revision. The work is never done.  

Stamper writes about some of the difficulties of word defining, finding short words, swear words and colour-related words (“nude” caused a lot of angst!) among the most challenging. Her chapters are full of amusing stories and examples. Footnotes are especially fun and elicited many snorts during my reading.

For example:

Stamper writes, “In the event you don’t know what the obelus is for,* we have a short usage paragraph…..etc. etc.

Footnote: * “And you are not alone, though here I ask you, again and graciously, to read the goddamned front matter.”

What is “front matter”, you ask? It's the written material at the beginning of every dictionary telling you what you need to know in order to understand what exists in the main body of the tome. Read it! 

Of course, these days, few people refer to dictionaries in hard copy. In fact, people are using dictionary pages for creative paper art or crafts which can then be sold and are probably collectively worth more than that old dusty gigantic book taking so much room on a shelf.

So yes, dictionaries are online which makes things both easier and more difficult for lexicographers. On the one hand, changes can be made at less cost and more rapidly than republishing new versions of complete dictionaries. On the other hand, people find it easier to complain (few people actually think to compliment the folks who do all this work – why is it human nature to always look for the mistake, the omission, the supposed disrespect instead of saying, “well done!”?)

And yes, lexicographers read and answer all the emails and letters they receive. Dealing with reader mail seems to be one of a lexicographer’s most time-consuming duties. Stamper has quite a few letters to share with us and I found them valuable in explaining the difference between the WORD and the MEANING OF THE WORD. For example, when the word is ‘marriage’, with one of its senses being ‘same-sex marriage’, people wrote in dismay that having this meaning in the dictionary would promote the LGBTQetc agenda to the detriment of American society and HOW COULD THEY! But the fact is, the word, ‘same-sex marriage’ is a word that is in usage, both orally and in print and therefore it needs to be included in the dictionary and whether one is for or against the issue is BESIDE THE POINT. The opinion of the reader, whatever it is, is not part of the equation.

The chapter on pronunciation is also interesting. You know those ridiculously complicated keys in dictionaries to help pronounce a word? Did you know that if you are actually able to navigate the keyed symbols for the word, it will come up being pronounced in your own accent, whether it be Cajun, Scottish or Newfie. If dictionaries were to use the phonetic spelling as opposed to the key (phonemic), pronunciations would then not reflect the way a person would actually say the word, but would be in someone else’s accent.

Stamper gives quite a few pages to a mis-pronunciation that bothers me quite often and which I found most interesting: “nuclear” vs “nucular” (aaaargh…it’s painful just typing it!) Now I’d like to hear the arguments around “envelope” (n-velope vs on-velope) and “experiment” (ex-pair-iment vs ex-spear-iment: this one is in almost every episode of Big Bang Theory, thanks to Sheldon Cooper/Jim Parsons) and what about Hallo-ween vs Hollo-ween!

I guess by now you can tell how much I liked this book. I recommend it to anybody who loves the English language and the hunt for the right word.