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A review by mintyfreshsocks
The Language of Food: A Linguist Reads the Menu by Dan Jurafsky
3.0
This was just plain fun. Dan Jurafsky is a great linguist, and as a linguist it's refreshing to read popular science that's linguistically responsible - a real treat.
That being said, my favorite parts of this book weren't the computational linguistics, although I liked the chapters on menus and reviews quite a bit. My favorites definitely were those that focused on history and etymology; Jurafsky's writing becomes almost lyrical at times, and I love the casual forays into world history that we get in those chapters.
Overall, a pleasant and fun book, and absolutely recommended for anyone who wants to read good and responsible linguistics.
That being said, my favorite parts of this book weren't the computational linguistics, although I liked the chapters on menus and reviews quite a bit. My favorites definitely were those that focused on history and etymology; Jurafsky's writing becomes almost lyrical at times, and I love the casual forays into world history that we get in those chapters.
Overall, a pleasant and fun book, and absolutely recommended for anyone who wants to read good and responsible linguistics.