Katherine Barber (1) (1959–2021)

I have a Merriam Webster dictionary that's ancient and worn, and since I was moving back to Canada I wanted a new Canadian dictionary. However, I still prefer my old dictionary when I don't want to go online because, as my mom has told me all my life, Oxford makes inferior dictionaries. Her teachers growing up said that. I have now read enough classics while sitting on the porch away from the computer to know that this dictionary doesn't serve when I need it most. Yet my old dictionary does each time. So I figure this book is "OK" as per GoodReads two star rating because I can see it coming in handy for someone younger or someone being occasionally forgetful of a common word. Incidentally, both books are of similar font, layout, and number of pages, so I have no idea how this one has so much fewer words I need to know compared to the other. Awesome cover design though. Sometimes I love being Canadian just for being represented by the maple leaf motif.… (más)

This is one of the better fun-with-etymology books I've come across. The style is light, readable, and good-humored, and the fact that the structure is thematic rather than alphabetical gives it a more coherent feeling than it might otherwise have had. (Apparently the chapters of the book originated as radio show segments, and there was a desire to make them sort of topical, so they're loosely organized around seasons and seasonal events.) It also does an excellent job of conveying the sense that English is an evolving, growing language, one that's become what it is because of generations of people making choices, deliberate or otherwise, about what to call things.

I recommend dipping in and out, though, rather than reading it straight through, as otherwise it can feel a bit repetitive at times.… (más)