Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries

★ ★ ★ 1/2 (rounded up)
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Readeras part of a quick takes/catch up post —emphasizing pithiness, not thoroughness.
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If you've ever wondered how a dictionary—at least Merriam-Webster dictionaries—is produced, this is the book for you. If you hadn't but the idea sounds pretty good now that you know a book like that exists (like I was), good news. Kory Stamper's book will satisfy.

As the blurb says,

She explains why small words are the most difficult to define, how it can take nine months to define a single word, and how our biases about language and pronunciation can have tremendous social influence. And along the way, she reveals little-known surprises—for example, the fact that “OMG” was first used in a letter to Winston Churchill in 1917.

Nine Nasty Words