This is actually the first essay collection I’ve read and as other people almost always say, I really enjoyed some of the essays while others just didn’t do it for me. The essays I liked the most generally fell into two categories. First, the essays where the authors complained about particular new developments in speech and writing were often the funniest. I loved the tongue-in-cheek ones where the authors sarcastically lauded the part of speech they were actually disparaging. And the ones where the authors used the part of speech they were complaining about to make their point were also very good.

The second type of essays was a category I found particularly interesting: those having to do with pop culture. The essay on “Buffy-isms” (new words introduced in the TV show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) was by far my favorite of these. In the pop culture category, anyone thinking of handing this to a teen who loves language should be warned that the collection features articles on the origin of several curse words and on the language of the BDSM scene. Just so you know.

A final category of essay included most of those I didn’t like: the list essay. These essays were basically just long lists of words and definitions. If you truly love language for the sake of language and are the sort of person who collects obscure but enjoyable words, these essays will be perfect for you. Personally, I love language, but don’t obsess over individual words enough to enjoy these rather dry essays. Obviously, the beauty of an essay collection is that you can pick and choose, so if you simply love language, I would still recommend giving this book a chance.

This review first published on Doing Dewey. ( )

Erin McKean’s collection of articles and essays from Verbatim is a fun expedition into linguistics and language history. McKean brings together writings from the periodical’s 37-year history. There’s almost too much here to do it justice. In the 56 presented essays, writers bounce ideas, trade barbs, and peel away the layers of words and ideas. Here’s some fun bits from this collection:

• An almost complete collection of derogatory Britishisms,
• A quick foray into the language of science fiction fan fiction
• A compendium of Japanese onomatopoeia
• An odd look at “tosspot” words—verb-noun combination words
• A fun history at the language of the so-called “Wicked” Bibles.

This book gives the reader digestible nuggets of writing on many of language’s vagaries. I’m a language nut, so I had a lot of fun with many of the entries, but it may be a bit like a a twelve-course meal when all you want is a nibble. Read this one in little chunks and you’ll learn a lot of new language trivia. An encyclopedic and fun volume. ( )