![]() ![]() Grammar gets complex quickly, and for good reason: there are no simple answers and no absolute rules. If that’s the case, you're mistaken as to what grammar actually involves. You might think that because your sentences come festooned with bells and whistles, and because you can delicately balance clauses like some sort of Jenga master, that you're a grammar whiz through and through. In the next book summary, let’s look at the role of grammar in lexicography. You’ll get to sit in silence thinking about words all day long.īut it's not all about words. The silence was deafening.Īnd this is exactly what makes it the perfect job for a linguistic nerd. She was brought to the editorial floor where everyone was busy beavering away in individual cubicles. In fact, when the author applied to work at Merriam-Webster, she was specifically told not to expect social interaction. That being said, lexicography is not an ideal profession for social people, as it often involves sitting alone in absolute silence for hours at a time. If you’re about to define a load of mathematical terms, then a mathematician rather than an English major is much more likely to cut the mustard.Īll this means that lexicographers are a rather mixed bunch, from sports enthusiasts to queer studies specialists. It really doesn’t matter what you studied, as there’s no limit to the diversity of the English language. The only things lexicographers need are a good command of English and a university degree of some kind – any kind. However, if a job does open up, and you’re one of the rare few who finds this kind of work appealing, then there’s a good chance of getting it. Those who became lexicographers often didn't originally plan to do so – mostly because not many people know about lexicography in the first place! It was probably years ago, if you can even remember.īut then again, lexicography was hardly a mainstream profession even in its heyday. After all, dictionary writing is not an expanding industry just think of the last time you bought a dictionary, or even used one. But how’s this for an idea: the discipline of lexicography, or dictionary writing. why lexicography isn’t for chatterboxes.Ĭhoosing a career path is never easy, and it’s something a lot of people struggle with.what a snollygoster is, and how it created controversy and.what the dictionary can and can’t tell you about love.In this summary of Word by Word by Kory Stamper, you’ll learn Once you understand what lexicography involves, your assumptions will be challenged not only about language and grammar, but about how we engage with and understand the world around us. While people often have no idea how dictionaries are created, the process of compiling a dictionary – also known as lexicography – is much more complex than you might expect. Dictionaries and the work of lexicographers in particular represent an ongoing attempt to understand what humans mean when we communicate. Particularly now, in the age of the internet, the word lists, companions, lexica and dictionaries that have been around for centuries may seem hopelessly outdated.īut nothing could be further from the truth. Since we use them constantly, every day of our lives, it’s easy to take words for granted.
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