Verbatim: From the bawdy to the sublime, the best writing on language for word lovers, grammar mavens, and armchair linguists by Erin McKean

Verbatim: From the bawdy to the sublime, the best writing on language for word lovers, grammar mavens, and armchair linguists Reviews

• 
  David

  God, I love this book! Where else are you going to find a fascinating exegesis of the use of slang in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a discussion of the specific nuances of language within the S/M community, and a discussion of dirty words down the centuries in a single volume? Buy a copy for yourself and several more for your friends who like to explore the back alleys of language.
• 
  Aiyana

  A nice selection of essays for the armchair linguist. Occasionally jargon-heavy, sometimes humorous, and generally fascinating. Topics include place names, various dictionaries' roundabout dodges to avoid defining "sexual intercourse," terminologies for passing gas, and rotating strawberry madonnas (Steve Bonner's essay on Nullspeak was particularly enjoyable. It's worth noting that some of his nonsense phrases would make excellent band names).
  
  Fun bits:
  "I have often wondered why, if there is a word to describe a silent fart, there isn't also a word for a silent fart which smells, a silent one which doesn't, a loud one which smells, and a loud
  one which doesn't. Such discriminations would, don't you suppose, improve the precision of the English language." P 87. Apparently the term for a silent fart, which must be a Britishism, is "fizzle."
  
  Polysemania: "an abnormal awareness of possible ambiguity; an uncontrollable tendency to bring to mind the inappropriate or unintended sense of a word." 105
  
  Joe Queenan's piece "When Everything Was Everything" makes the incomprehensible claim that the phrase "if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem" is extinct in the United States. Not only is that phrase alive and well, it's well-known enough tou have a geeky joke based on it: "if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
  
  From "Assing Around" by Jessy Randall and Wendy Woloson:
  
  "/Working your ass off/ is the most difficult form of working; there is no further amount you can work. (Conversely, of course, if you do a /half-assed/ job-as opposed to whole-assed? - you have taken a cavalier attitude and not done all you should.) The phrase /sitting on your ass/ implies more than just sitting- since, after all, on our asses is where we all do that- but adds the sense of laziness: hyper-sitting." P 319
  
  "If someone wants to fight you, she might say she's going to /kick your ass/; a boxer in a match can be said to have had his /ass kicked/ even though the ass is below the belt and therefore off limits in a fair fight. What the phrase contributes in colorfulness it lacks in intensity-after all, the ass is probably the least painful area to be kicked." 320
• 
  Susanna

  A boring collection of 57 articles published in the journal Verbatim. I was fascinated for the first couple essays, but it was downhill from there. I skimmed and skipped numerous articles. I liked three of the articles: Noun Overuse Phenomenon Article, Instant Welsh, and My Name is Hanes.
• 
  Katie/Doing Dewey

  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.
• 
  Cindy

  This book collects some of the best articles from Verbatim, the language quarterly magazine -- “Language and linguistics for the layperson since 1974”. As someone with an amateur interest in linguistics, I found this book a perfect introduction to some of the most fun parts of it: unique place names, malediction (hearing “bad” words when there are none intended), slang and jargon, interesting etymologies, wordplay, and the histories of impolite words, among other things. The book maintains a lighthearted feel throughout, and more than a few pieces made me laugh out loud.
  
  The reason this book is not an "amazing" is because, although they might be interesting, there are quite a few list-based articles. Thus, for topics you might not find as intriguing, or for topics you simply don’t know anything about, these lists of words and definitions may become a bore.
• 
  Eva

  I expected to like this book, since I majored in linguistics and am such a big Erin McKean fan. But I generally found the articles read like pedantic laundry lists, which is a bit exhausting even for me.
  
  That said, here are two sayings from the Old Sussex dialect that I liked:
  "An impossible task calls forth the comment, 'I can't suck flour *and* whistle!"
  "A scolding woman was said to give her husband 'a dish of tongues.'"
  
  And it was also interesting to hear that Australians use diminutives (-ie, -y-, -ey, -o) for tons of words, like the familiar Aussie (Australian) and barbie (barbecue). But there's also choco (conscript, from 'chocolate soldier'), brekkie (breakfast), trannie (transistor radio), Salvo/Salvie (Salvation Army member), nasho (national service), Chrissie (xmas), mossie (mosquito), coldie (a cold one, aka beer), sickie (sick leave), and many, many more.
• 
  Sharon

  Excerpts from the magazine "Verbatim," devoted to various aspects of words and language. Of special note are the article about the Portuguese man who wrote an English phrase book even though his grasp on the language was very tenuous (To wit: "Eatings" include: some boiled meat, some fritters, a stewed fruit, some wigs..)A discussion of word combinations that would never occur in English, yet manage to convey visual images (e.g rotating strawberry madonnas)is entertaining. World history according to bloopers from essays is worth a belly laugh (I've seen is elsewhere, but it is still hilarious). In short, this book covers a bit of everything that might be of interest to word- and language- lovers. Bonus: there is also a website with similar content: verbatimmag.com
• 
  Grace

  Each chapter focuses on an essence of language/language usage: dictionaries, place names, linguistics, etc. and is a collection of articles published in Verbatim over the past (approximately) three decades. I just read the articles that interested me. I really enjoyed the clips sent in by readers that the editors placed throughout the book that demonstrated gross misuses of the English language. They were quite entertaining.
• 
  Roxy

  I hate to say it but the title may be better than the book. Now, I love language and while many of the essays/articles included in this book are rather interesting and witty, it's safe to say that a good deal of essays/articles are tedious and boring. What a shame.
• 
  Michelle

  The wit of these linguists is hilarious. I loved the SIC! SIC! SIC! pieces and the chapter made up of students' mistakes in history essays.
  
  People sensitive to swears should avoid sections of this book, but those words were treated so matter-of-factly that it didn't bother me.
• 
  michelle

  Who doesn't enjoy random essays about linguistics, words and such? Hmm?
• 
  Tamara

  I hate it when I'm just not in the mood for a book I really thought I'd enjoy.
• 
  C.J.

  Curious crack-up of esoterica, grammatica, and the human mind reflected in its creative and half-cocked relation to relating itself through words.
• 
  Ratforce

  As a fan of language and wordplay, you can’t do much better than Verbatim . This book is a compilation of essays about the use and misuse of language from top scholars, including Richard Lederer!
• 
  Ellen

  i LOVE words!
• 
  Hillbilly Wisdom Wisdom

  Great read so far....