false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1184083542m/1483697.jpg 1483697 2 Language wears many hats, but its most important job is to help us name or describe what's in the world. Words define us, our actions, even our existence. And just when you think that you have all the words you need, you discover new ones, hear new uses for old ones or see them mutate right before your eyes&#8212;a neologism is born.<br><br>Those neologisms are actually one of the best ways of keeping tabs on the way our world and culture are changing. One of the people who's been keeping tabs is Paul McFedries, the president of Logophilia Limited (<i>logophilia</i> is Greek for "the love of words"). His scorecard is <i>Word Spy</i>, a daily newsletter that has been reporting from the neological frontier since 1998 and that has more than 100,000 visitors a month and more than 12 million page views. In <i>Word Spy</i>, McFedries demonstrates how new words both reflect and illuminate not only the subcultures that coin them but also the larger culture in which these groups exist. Neologisms give us insight into the way things are even as they act as linguistic harbingers of what's to come. Each chapter of <i>Word Spy</i> is a cultural snapshot, a slice of the zeitgeist that focuses on a specific idea or sociological phenomenon, with an emphasis on the words and phrases that it has generated. These snapshots cover various aspects of modern life, including relationships, business, technology, war, aging, multiculturalism, and even fast food, all the while introducing us to hybrid words: If your kids can't seem to get away from their computers, they may be addicted to "fritterware" (time-wasting game software). If you're a new mother with a passion for petitioning, you may be a "lactivist" (breast-feeding activist). And if you keep finding yourself staying way later at the office than you ever imagined, you may be suffering from "presenteeism." <br><br><i>Word Spy</i> is an exciting and informative travelogue through the evolving landscape of our language and, consequently, the cultures and subcultures that continually mold and shape not just the language but all of us who speak it. 1474850 17 2 2004 Word Spy: The Word Lover's Guide to Modern Culture total:6|5:1|3:4|2:1| 6 19 26 3 1483697 076791466X 9780767914666 6 3 3.17 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1184083542m/1483697.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1483697.Word_Spy_The_Word_Lover_s_Guide_to_Modern_Culture 5 3 false Tue Jul 17 11:15:11 -0700 2007 Mon Jan 07 01:57:39 -0800 2008

For anyone interested in the evolution of language, in particular, with an interest in tracking new words as they enter into the language, Paul McFedries' Wor...more...]]> 1483697 076791466X 9780767914666 6 3 3.17 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1184083542m/1483697.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1483697.Word_Spy_The_Word_Lover_s_Guide_to_Modern_Culture 2 0 false Sat Mar 29 16:26:13 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 29 16:27:16 -0700 2008 1483697 076791466X 9780767914666 6 3 3.17 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1184083542m/1483697.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1483697.Word_Spy_The_Word_Lover_s_Guide_to_Modern_Culture 3 0 false Wed Mar 26 19:32:19 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 27 13:38:43 -0700 2009 1483697 076791466X 9780767914666 6 3 3.17 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1184083542m/1483697.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1483697.Word_Spy_The_Word_Lover_s_Guide_to_Modern_Culture 0 0 false Fri May 29 20:18:00 -0700 2009 Fri May 29 20:18:00 -0700 2009 1483697 076791466X 9780767914666 6 3 3.17 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1184083542m/1483697.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1483697.Word_Spy_The_Word_Lover_s_Guide_to_Modern_Culture 0 0 false Fri Feb 13 15:24:20 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 13 15:24:20 -0800 2009 1483697 076791466X 9780767914666 6 3 3.17 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1184083542m/1483697.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1483697.Word_Spy_The_Word_Lover_s_Guide_to_Modern_Culture 0 0 false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 02 13:29:36 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 02 16:40:58 -0800 2009 1483697 076791466X 9780767914666 6 3 3.17 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1184083542m/1483697.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1483697.Word_Spy_The_Word_Lover_s_Guide_to_Modern_Culture 0 0 false Wed Jul 02 10:45:47 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 02 10:45:47 -0700 2008 1483697 076791466X 9780767914666 6 3 3.17 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1184083542m/1483697.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1483697.Word_Spy_The_Word_Lover_s_Guide_to_Modern_Culture 0 0 false Thu Jun 05 17:18:44 -0700 2008 Fri Jun 06 07:23:51 -0700 2008 1483697 076791466X 9780767914666 6 3 3.17 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1184083542m/1483697.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1483697.Word_Spy_The_Word_Lover_s_Guide_to_Modern_Culture 0 0 false Thu Jun 05 12:43:17 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 05 12:43:17 -0700 2008 1483697 076791466X 9780767914666 6 3 3.17 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1184083542m/1483697.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1483697.Word_Spy_The_Word_Lover_s_Guide_to_Modern_Culture 0 0 false Fri May 09 16:24:43 -0700 2008 Fri May 09 16:24:52 -0700 2008 1483697 076791466X 9780767914666 6 3 3.17 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1184083542m/1483697.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1483697.Word_Spy_The_Word_Lover_s_Guide_to_Modern_Culture 0 0 false Tue Apr 15 20:54:14 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 15 20:54:21 -0700 2008 1483697 076791466X 9780767914666 6 3 3.17 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1184083542m/1483697.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1483697.Word_Spy_The_Word_Lover_s_Guide_to_Modern_Culture 0 0 false Sat Mar 29 13:06:09 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 29 13:06:16 -0700 2008 1483697 076791466X 9780767914666 6 3 3.17 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1184083542m/1483697.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1483697.Word_Spy_The_Word_Lover_s_Guide_to_Modern_Culture 0 0 false Sun Mar 09 19:14:08 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 09 19:14:14 -0700 2008 1483697 076791466X 9780767914666 6 3 3.17 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1184083542m/1483697.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1483697.Word_Spy_The_Word_Lover_s_Guide_to_Modern_Culture 3 0 false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 21 19:50:18 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 21 19:50:18 -0800 2008 1483697 076791466X 9780767914666 6 3 3.17 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1184083542m/1483697.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1483697.Word_Spy_The_Word_Lover_s_Guide_to_Modern_Culture 0 0 false Tue Feb 05 15:38:33 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 05 15:38:33 -0800 2008 1483697 076791466X 9780767914666 6 3 3.17 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1184083542m/1483697.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1483697.Word_Spy_The_Word_Lover_s_Guide_to_Modern_Culture 0 0 false Mon Jan 28 18:43:19 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 28 18:43:24 -0800 2008 1483697 076791466X 9780767914666 6 3 3.17 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1184083542m/1483697.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1483697.Word_Spy_The_Word_Lover_s_Guide_to_Modern_Culture 0 0 false Tue Jan 15 14:37:35 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 15 14:37:35 -0800 2008 1483697 076791466X 9780767914666 6 3 3.17 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1184083542m/1483697.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1483697.Word_Spy_The_Word_Lover_s_Guide_to_Modern_Culture 0 0 false Tue Jan 08 20:38:46 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 14 17:25:59 -0800 2008 1483697 076791466X 9780767914666 6 3 3.17 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1184083542m/1483697.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1483697.Word_Spy_The_Word_Lover_s_Guide_to_Modern_Culture 0 0 false Mon Jan 07 08:45:58 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 07 08:46:07 -0800 2008 1483697 076791466X 9780767914666 6 3 3.17 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1184083542m/1483697.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1483697.Word_Spy_The_Word_Lover_s_Guide_to_Modern_Culture 0 0 false Mon Jan 07 07:33:50 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 07 07:34:05 -0800 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=1483697