Gretchen McCulloch

The internet isn't the first technology to alter how we communicate, but it is making our language change faster and in more interesting ways than ever before. The programmers behind the apps and platforms we use decide how our conversations are structured, from the grammar of status updates to the protocols of comments and @replies. Linguistically inventive niche online communities spread slang and jargon exponentially faster than in the days when new dialects were constrained by physical space. What's more, social media provides a fascinating laboratory for watching language evolve in real time.

Understanding the New Rules of Language

Because Internet

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!! Named a Best Book of 2019 by TIME, Amazon, and The Washington Post A Wired Must-Read Book of Summer “Gretchen McCulloch is the internet’s favorite linguist, and this book is essential reading. Reading her work is like suddenly being able to see the matrix.” —Jonny Sun, author of everyone's a aliebn when ur a aliebn too Because Internet is for anyone who's ever puzzled over how to punctuate a text message or wondered where memes come from. It's the perfect book for understanding how the internet is changing the English language, why that's a good thing, and what our online interactions reveal about who we are. Language is humanity's most spectacular open-source project, and the internet is making our language change faster and in more interesting ways than ever before. Internet conversations are structured by the shape of our apps and platforms, from the grammar of status updates to the protocols of comments and @replies. Linguistically inventive online communities spread new slang and jargon with dizzying speed. What's more, social media is a vast laboratory of unedited, unfiltered words where we can watch language evolve in real time. Even the most absurd-looking slang has genuine patterns behind it. Internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch explores the deep forces that shape human language and influence the way we communicate with one another. She explains how your first social internet experience influences whether you prefer "LOL" or "lol," why ~sparkly tildes~ succeeded where centuries of proposals for irony punctuation had failed, what emoji have in common with physical gestures, and how the artfully disarrayed language of animal memes like lolcats and doggo made them more likely to spread.

So this is why when I was younger I was proud of not having a medhok accent in speaking Indonesian, but when I'm older my values change and I try harder in getting rid of my Jakartan accent instead lol

fatiya

Sometimes, we decide to align ourselves with the existing holders of power by talking like they do, so we can seem rich or educated or upwardly mobile. Sometimes, we decide to align ourselves with particular less powerful groups, to show that we belong and to seem cool, antiauthoritarian, or not stuck-up.

These forms are shorter in writing, but not necessarily more efficient in speech, even though we somnetimes speak them aloud when we're talking about specialized topics: it takes longer to say "ampersand" or WWF" than “and" or "World Wildlife Fund."

LOL this brings me back to that episode in Dear Hank and John where they spent like 15 minutes trying to come up with how to spell "as per uzh"

We truncate words without regard for spelling: you can say the first syllable of “us! al" or "casual" and everyone knows what you mean, but do you write it "yooj"? “uzh"? "cazh"? "casj"?

THE ACCLAIMED NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. Have you ever puzzled over how to punctuate a text message? Wondered where memes came from? Fret no more: Because Internet is the perfect book for understanding how the internet is changing the English language, why that's a good thing, and what our online interactions reveal about who we are. 'McCulloch is such a disarming writer - lucid, friendly, unequivocally excited about her subject - that I began to marvel at the flexibility of the online language she describes, with its numerous shades of subtlety.' New York Times

Understanding how language is changing

Lindy

I guess my conclusion is that it's an okay light read for general audiences but I wouldn't suggest this to anyone engaging in serious linguistic study.

Throughout the book, the author assumes a tone of breathless enthusiasm/incredulity. At this point in my life, I'm just not going to get excited about the Northern Cities Vowel Shift, you know? A lot of it reads like omg you guise, on facebook you used to have to start every status update with '[yournamehere] is' and let me explain to you this thing called Usenet. This feeds into the larger problem I had while reading, which is that I often found myself asking so what? All social interactions are about power, and language is the medium of social interaction, but discussion of power was conspicuously absent in the text. If it was brought up, it was brief and not an actual discussion; for example, digital blackface through reaction gifs is mentioned but not given any elaboration. McCulloch writes that memes are useful for marking in and out group status, and says that white supremacist Pepe the frog memes featured in the 2016 US presidential election, but leaves it there and doesn't analyse any particular memes or track their proliferation. 

I just realized while typing the above paragraph that the thesis of this book, more than anything else, seems to be that being an internet linguist is cool and fun, which, written out like that, is not compelling and pretty self-involved. In my opinion anyway.

Katherine Yang

a BRILLIANT book. i love it of course. gretchen mcculloch is on the next level

Andrew Louis

This book was best when zoomed in on specific historical examples (but less interesting when giving broad explanations of internet history).

Ben Silverman 

5/10

I don't really agree with McCulloch's stance that "all changes and evolution to language are a good thing", and I think that affected my enjoyment of this book a large amount.

The exploration of different generations of "Internet People" was really interesting, and I do think it's fascinating how different age groups accessed and came to use the Internet when it began reaching the mainstream.

It's very conflicting for me because, as a principle, I entirely agree that language is defined by the people that use it. However, I don't think this goes hand-in-hand with the claim that the way language is changing thanks to the Internet is a good thing, which is what McCulloch's opinion on it seems to be. I'm very much pro-"using punctuation and grammar to create tone and pacing in a body of prose" and it feels like argument is being made that since the rules of grammar were just made up by a bunch of people that they have no real weight behind them and should be disregarded as our language evolves, which I dislike.

I'm sounding far older and boomer-y than I want to by writing this but I massively prefer reading something written with "correct" punctuation and grammar compared to the same text using some of today's emerging techniques (e.g. use of comma ellipses like "hey,,,", intentional misspellings of words etc.).

Even as I write this, though, my viewpoint's shifting all over the place. Honestly, I think as long internet speak stays on the internet and doesn't say, start appearing in academic papers or more formal texts then that's probably fine. It's definitely harder to use lots of punctuation on a phone - which is probably where most of this kind of communication takes place - than typing the same letter a few more times to indicate intensity, so I can see why people would naturally gravitate towards that kind of language when speaking online. But...it would be nice to feel like these same people know when and how to use the more traditional style too.

Amani Zaha

I understand this is a highly delusional, self-absorbed claim, but: this book was absolutely written for me. I'm sure McCulloch caught onto highschool-me raving about the many quirks and peculiarities of Internet Language — like the transformation of "lol" from acronym to almost a word of its own, the nuanced uses of memes and emojis in informal communication, along with a number of other phenomenons I myself partook in as a person who was (and is) chronically Online — and decided to write a book that touches on exactly those things. I mean: this book is so perfectly suited to my interests, it's uncanny.


  When we thought of language like a book, we thought of it as an unruly mess of words that had to be kept in order, like a Victorian gardener constantly retrimming the hedges into spirals and globes. When we think of language like a network, we can see order as a thing that emerges out of the natural tendencies of the individuals, the way that a forest keeps itself in order even though it doesn't get pruned and weeded.


Because Internet is such a delight: it's entertaining and informative, as well as highly relatable for anyone who regularly uses the internet to socialise or is aware of internet culture. McCulloch, who has a master's in linguistics and is particularly interested in internet linguistics, clearly knows what she is talking about; but more than that, it's her enthusiasm, awe and curiosity that shine through in her narration and make this book so enjoyable.

Her tone is lighthearted and playful, never taking herself too seriously, while also providing research (both peer-reviewed studies and more informal Twitter polls she's conducted herself) to back up and/or concretise her claims. Also, it is So refreshing to hear someone speak about internet culture and the internet's effect on language without any pretentiousness or condescension.

And the things she writes about!! There's the evolution of internet culture; minimalist punctuation; the expression of sarcasm, and tone in general, via text; emojis as semantic expressions of gestures; the ominous "..." often prevalent in text messages from older generations; the emphatic use of repeating letters. There's also the history of memes, generational characteristics in Internet behaviour, linguistic displays of politeness online — all of this and more within about 320 pages (of which the last 20% consist of an index, references and acknowledgement).

I very rarely choose to read non-fiction (not counting course literature), so the fact that I finished this book within two days is very telling for how engrossing it was. Of course, any reader's experience will depend on their interest in the subject matter and how exciting they find, say, a detailed exploration of why the ~ symbol is often used to convey sarcasm, or a description of the history of the hashtag. I'm biased, but I also genuinely think McCulloch has done a terrific job with this book.

My complaints are few:
* The chapter about memes was very much just a detailing of the history of memes, followed by musings on the outskirts of the concept of memes? The semantic use of memes was one of the things I most looked forward to reading about, but I feel like McCulloch skipped over a huge chunk of this fascinating subject and instead went off on multiple tangents. Granted, the book covers enough ground for this to be a minor complaint of mine, and the topic of memes and language probably warrants a book of its own, but the chapter doesn't really touch on how memes are used, text-based memes (as opposed to images) or the way meme phrases/words often infiltrate the rest of language online. Like how the Spongebob meme was used to indicate sarcasm, both typographically by alternating upper- and lowercase within a word, and also just by referencing the image itself.

* Personally, more subheadings throughout the text would've been very helpful lol.

Anyway: this book gets 5 stars - for McCulloch's expertise, her warm, enthusiastic narration, and the sheer number of fascinating things she touches on in regards to internet linguistics – not to mention how the content seems to be almost tailored to my interests.

Thank u Gretchen McCulloch!! Now please write a book on memes!

sophia n

perfect read for a 32-year-old someone who lives at the intersection of terminally online (derogatory), Special Interest City, and linguistic nerdery. it’s me. i live there.

I really enjoyed this book and felt that in many ways it took further things related to the linguistic side of my doctoral thesis.

Doug Belshaw

Jk Jensen

Books on linguistics have always captured my attention. Because internet combines classical linguistics with internet culture in a novel way that makes for an enjoyable read. I highly recommend it for those who, like me, grew up on the internet.

Riah Forbes 

I generally enjoyed this book, though putting an explanatory wrapper around something “obvious” is always a bit risky. Some wrappers worked wonderfully and helped me see things in a totally new way - like the different generations of internet people, or connecting emojis with gesture research. Other wrappers felt trite or inaccurate - e.g. her explanation of emails starting with “Dear...” seemed American-centric. Overall, a fun book to dip in and out of, but I’d love to read volume 2 of this book with more of an international lens.

Audrey Kalman

✨Tyler ✨

i def need to reread this in a text format because i know i missed stuff. but still an enjoyable listen.

Flavia Louise

This was quite an interesting and informative read.

Katharina Hoffmann

A book about the evolution of (the English) language but make it internet-related, nerdy, and fun at the same time? Sign me up!
  
I love me a good linguist book that discusses language outside highly-academic settings, and this one truly didn’t let me down. It’s full of did-you-knows and exciting facts, sometimes about very, very specific corners of the internet.

The book is structured in a way that makes it easy to follow. The beginning of the book is dedicated to a chapter covering informal writing and how the internet contributed to making it as popular as it is today. McCulloch then spends some time discussing language and society with a particular focus on the creation of language and dialect maps and how and why Twitter serves as a great option to conduct linguistic research. The most significant part of this book, however, is spent in dissecting the origins of (language) forums on the internet, how different generations of people belong to different ages of the internet and that the point in time you joined the internet massively influences your typographical tone of voice and how it is interpreted!

While McCulloch’s chapters on memes and especially emojis were very entertaining and gave me the feeling that I learned a lot, the thing that stuck with me most is the author’s mentions of the appropriation of Black people’s language that the internet fostered on a global scale.

1. You all remember “bae”, right? Did you know that up until 2014, “bae” was primarily used by African Americans “when it started appearing in tweets by white people, only to get co-opted by brands shortly thereafter” (McCulloch 22)?

2. “af” is an abbreviation I personally use a lot. It started at low levels in LA and Miami in 2009, then spread in Cali, the South, and around Chicago in 2011-2012, “suggesting that it was spreading from Hispanic to African American populations. In 2014 and 2015, ‘af’ started appearing in BuzzFeed headlines” (McCulloch 31) and mainstream brands once again started capitalising on its association with African American coolness.

3. Oh, and this one: 💅 I love that emoji because I find it is a great way to sass someone. McCulloch writes that “the painting fingernails emoji entered the mainstream by its association with the black drag queen expression ‘throwing shade,’ for giving subtle, cutting insult” (165-166).

4. THIS 👏WAS 👏A 👏VERY 👏INFORMATIVE 👏BOOK 👏. See what I did there? The trend of following each word with a clapping hands emoji started as an emoji representation of a beat gesture common among African American women.

These are just four examples of Black cultural appropriation, and that it extends even into the area of language use shouldn’t come as a surprise, but it’s nonetheless shocking. 

All in all, this was a great read that truly benefited from being written by a knowledgeable, non-judgemental linguist because remember folks:

“Whatever else is changing for good or for bad in the world, the evolution of language is neither the solution to all of our problems nor the cause of them. It simply is.”

Elska Bee

insightful, detailed, and sometimes quite funny!
If you're interested in this topic at all, it's a must read!

Cindy

An interesting look at how Internet culture and linguistics have evolved over time. This is the book I'd make my not-as-online friends read, because it distills several unspoken tenets and mores of Internet-speak, such as the passive aggression of a period in an instant message or the use of tildes to communicate either enthusiasm or sarcasm (depending on which culture we're talking about). It's an interesting dissection, but because all of it already feels familiar to me (I'm in the second wave of Internet people, don't @ me), reading about your own behavior in the lens of a nonfic book gets pretty dry. Still, it's neat to read through this and witness just how much Internet culture has shaped language and vice-versa, even in the past few years.

Brandon Lee

Farid Martínez Yd

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!! Named a Best Book of 2019 by TIME, Amazon, and The Washington Post A Wired Must-Read Book of Summer "Gretchen McCulloch is the internet's favorite linguist, and this book is essential reading. Reading her work is like suddenly being able to see the matrix." --Jonny Sun, author of everyone's a aliebn when ur a aliebn too Because Internet is for anyone who's ever puzzled over how to punctuate a text message or wondered where memes come from. It's the perfect book for understanding how the internet is changing the English language, why that's a good thing, and what our online interactions reveal about who we are. Language is humanity's most spectacular open-source project, and the internet is making our language change faster and in more interesting ways than ever before. Internet conversations are structured by the shape of our apps and platforms, from the grammar of status updates to the protocols of comments and @replies. Linguistically inventive online communities spread new slang and jargon with dizzying speed. What's more, social media is a vast laboratory of unedited, unfiltered words where we can watch language evolve in real time. Even the most absurd-looking slang has genuine patterns behind it. Internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch explores the deep forces that shape human language and influence the way we communicate with one another. She explains how your first social internet experience influences whether you prefer "LOL" or "lol," why ~sparkly tildes~ succeeded where centuries of proposals for irony punctuation had failed, what emoji have in common with physical gestures, and how the artfully disarrayed language of animal memes like lolcats and doggo made them more likely to spread.

Because Internet Understanding the New Rules of Language

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