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lisabisabenson's review against another edition
Realised I was reading the words on the page but not the actual book, will revisit another time because the concepts are fascinating
timna_wyckoff's review against another edition
3.0
Rather academic look at the history of internet language, but less about present practice than I expected. Some nuggets that will stick with me (who knew that "hello" started with the telephone?). And, I guess I should try to stop using ellipses...but not sure I'll succeed :)
ohclaire's review against another edition
5.0
Help! Can't write this review without overthinking my use of formal/informal language on the internet!
sksrenninger's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed some aspects of this book, but the section on emoji really dragged for me, and the meme section never really recovered. The idea that older generations do have methods of informal writing, and that they just don’t line up with newer, online styles, was thought-provoking, and I loved the discussion of typography as tone. Agree with Erin that it was more academic than I expected, but I think with different expectations that shouldn’t stop you from plowing in.
laz_'s review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
as a linguistics nerd and general internet denizen this was really fun!! the author narrates the audiobook and has an absolute blast doing it, especially because the audio medium means you can use intonation for all the explanations of language and i get the pleasure of her trying to enunciate a keyboard smash.
i really appreciate any linguistic interpretation that embraces change and adaptation in language because that’s all language really is!! every generation language adapts to new speakers and new and wonderful ways to say things are invented so that was neat to learn about. it can be a bit of a retread if you’re either a) fairly familiar with the intricacies of internet language or b) a college student who is taking a linguistics class or generally spends a lot of time on wikipedia. either way hearing gretchen nerd about stuff was really enjoyable!!
as a linguistics nerd and general internet denizen this was really fun!! the author narrates the audiobook and has an absolute blast doing it, especially because the audio medium means you can use intonation for all the explanations of language and i get the pleasure of her trying to enunciate a keyboard smash.
i really appreciate any linguistic interpretation that embraces change and adaptation in language because that’s all language really is!! every generation language adapts to new speakers and new and wonderful ways to say things are invented so that was neat to learn about. it can be a bit of a retread if you’re either a) fairly familiar with the intricacies of internet language or b) a college student who is taking a linguistics class or generally spends a lot of time on wikipedia. either way hearing gretchen nerd about stuff was really enjoyable!!
willy0_o's review against another edition
It was too pop for me. Her audience is too general, too uninformed about linguistics. I wanted her to go deeper maybe. Idk it just didn’t really interest me. Her references for internet speak were too old/millennial, and that makes sense. It was published pre pandemic and was prob written years before. It’s hard to write a book that captures the moment. I might return to it