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A review by spooky_simon
The Language of Food: A Linguist Reads the Menu by Dan Jurafsky
informative
slow-paced
3.0
First of all, I was so excited to read this. I love linguistics and I love food. This was boring.
Jurafsky is a really interesting person, but writes like a highschool student who doesn't do a second draft. The book is like a slightly fleshed out etymological dictionary. He starts each chapter with a list of the words/foods he is going to discuss, spends maybe a sente ce to paragraph worth of actual discussion on each and then wraps up the chapter with forced conclusion paragraph that is supposed to show a larger message.
Also who let him write "despite the horrors of slavery" when talking about how much Thanksgiving is really about is coming together? Come on, dude.
Also he keeps moralizing food, incorrectly I might add.
Jurafsky is a really interesting person, but writes like a highschool student who doesn't do a second draft. The book is like a slightly fleshed out etymological dictionary. He starts each chapter with a list of the words/foods he is going to discuss, spends maybe a sente ce to paragraph worth of actual discussion on each and then wraps up the chapter with forced conclusion paragraph that is supposed to show a larger message.
Also who let him write "despite the horrors of slavery" when talking about how much Thanksgiving is really about is coming together? Come on, dude.
Also he keeps moralizing food, incorrectly I might add.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery