http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/?utm_source=rss Books we love Copyright 2012, Thinkmap Inc. All Rights Reserved. en Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:00:00 UTC http://www.visualthesaurus.com/images/common/logo_on_white.gif http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/?utm_source=rss Dog Eared http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/3127?utm_source=rss Richard Bailey's Speaking American is one of those books I wish I could make every prescriptivist grouch in the world read. You know the type: the kind of misinformed peever who kvetches about "kids these days" and the language going to hell while yearning to preserve English, as if it were a precious vase a teenage texter might knock over while planking, shattering it forever and leaving us all mute. Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:00:00 UTC http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/3127 Dog Eared http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/3100?utm_source=rss My friend Laura knows four languages plus "bits and pieces" of six others. That's impressive, but it's not quite in the same league as folks who pick up languages the way George Clooney picks up starlets: with frightening ease. Unfortunately, there hasn't been a lot written, in academic or popular literature, on hyperpolyglots: people who know not just two or three languages, but six or ten or twenty. Fri, 13 Jan 2012 05:00:00 UTC http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/3100 Dog Eared http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/3067?utm_source=rss When word nerdom and sci-fi nerdom collide, what do you get? A dictionary-bot that recites definitions while performing the duties of a butler? Someday, I hope that's true. For now, the answer is From Elvish to Klingon: Exploring Invented Languages: a thorough look at invented languages (also known as conlangs, short for constructed languages) from sci-fi and elsewhere. Fri, 16 Dec 2011 05:00:00 UTC http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/3067 Dog Eared http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/3003?utm_source=rss Yesterday, October 16, was National Dictionary Day, celebrated annually on the birthday of the great American lexicographer Noah Webster. Today the "Webster" name is practically synonymous with dictionaries, but how did the first "Webster's Dictionary" come to be? In this excerpt from The Forgotten Founding Father, Joshua Kendall recounts the publication of Webster's Compendious Dictionary in 1806, the first dictionary to bear his name and the first to feature his "American" spelling. Mon, 17 Oct 2011 04:00:00 UTC http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/3003 Dog Eared http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/2973?utm_source=rss Earlier this week we featured an excerpt from Word Freak by Stefan Fatsis, an entertaining look at the world of competitive Scrabble, now published in a tenth anniversary edition with a special afterword on the latest Scrabble developments. Here we present another excerpt from the afterword, about the raging debates over what words to include in the official Scrabble dictionary. Thu, 15 Sep 2011 04:00:00 UTC http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/2973 Dog Eared http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/2971?utm_source=rss Ten years ago, Stefan Fatsis published the book Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players. Since then, Scrabble has become even more competitive, thanks in part to the publicity from Word Freak. Fatsis has just released a tenth anniversary edition, with an afterword on the last decade's developments. Here we present an excerpt from the afterword about an astounding match that "rocked the Scrabble world." Tue, 13 Sep 2011 04:00:00 UTC http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/2971 Dog Eared http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/2946?utm_source=rss Earlier this week we featured an excerpt from the linguist John McWhorter's new book, What Language Is, in which he explains how the English language is essentially "disheveled." Here, in a second excerpt, McWhorter considers some questions that the chaotic history of English raises. Thu, 18 Aug 2011 04:00:00 UTC http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/2946 Dog Eared http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/2944?utm_source=rss In his new book, What Language Is, the linguist John McWhorter takes the reader on a guided tour of language as it really is, not how we might assume it to be. One of his keys to understanding language the way a linguist does is to appreciate that it is inherently messy, or "disheveled," as he puts it. In this excerpt, McWhorter uses the history of English as his example of just how disheveled language can be. Tue, 16 Aug 2011 04:00:00 UTC http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/2944 Dog Eared http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/2922?utm_source=rss In 2009, we had the pleasure of speaking with Roy Blount, Jr. on the occasion of the publication of Alphabet Juice, a compilation of his linguistic musings presented in dictionary style. Now he's back with the sequel, titled, naturally, Alphabetter Juice. Blount's wit is just as sharp in this followup, which he subtitles "The Joy of Text." Here are a few choice excerpts from the letter A. Mon, 25 Jul 2011 04:00:00 UTC http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/2922 Dog Eared http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/2852?utm_source=rss One of the great pleasures of Twitter is @FakeAPStylebook, which sends up the Associated Press Stylebook with hilariously terrible writing tips. Now the masterminds behind the tweets, known as The Bureau Chiefs, have a whole book of phony style advice: Write More Good. Here we present an excerpt adapted from their chapter on punctuation and grammar. Proceed with caution. Tue, 17 May 2011 04:00:00 UTC http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/2852