Word By Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries

For the first book of the 2022 NONFICTION READER CHALLENGE, I read Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries, by Kory Stamper, 2017, in the category Language.

Kory Stamper is a lexicographer for Merriam-Webster dictionary and writes about her experiences there by focusing on different words she has worked with and how they reveal peculiarities of the English language. In particular, it is quite a challenge to write a definition of a word, and she describes this in detail that is both fascinating and funny.

She also reveals a lot of information about how a dictionary is created and updated, reflecting the changing nature of language. Each chapter focuses on one word (which is also the title of the chapter) to illustrate how it reveals some aspect of working with language. For example, the chapter “Irregardless” is subtitled “On Wrong Words” (and I was surprised to find out that she proves irregardless is not a wrong word!). The chapter “Bitch” is “On Bad Words;” “Nuclear” is “On Pronunciation;” etc.

An interesting theme throughout the book is the public reaction to aspects of the dictionary. Many people think of the dictionary as a ‘prescriptive’ reference (setting rules of language), rather than ‘descriptive’ (describing language as it is used). So many people have written to Stamper over the years complaining – or threatening – when they are not happy with the definition of a particular word. For example, in the chapter “Marriage: On Authority and the Dictionary,” she describes the hate mail she got when Merriam-Webster updated its definition of marriage to include the legalization of same-sex partnerships.

I have always been interested in language and enjoyed reading dictionaries even when I was a child (skimming through the book to notice unusual words or checking a word’s etymology). Many of the aspects of language that she writes about I was already familiar with, but I still learned many new things. For example, I had always thought that the expression “to get one’s just deserts” was “just desserts,” thinking that it referred to something good (a dessert) one earns. But she gives the reference to the dictionary’s definition in the chapter “Pragmatic”: “desert n, pl -s … 2: deserved reward or punishment – usually used in plural [got their just deserts]”.

I loved this book – and I think anyone who is interested in words, language, English or books would love it too. The author loves her job as a lexicographer for Merriam-Webster and she certainly loves words – it’s evident in the enthusiastic way she writes.