Because Internet Understanding the New Rules of Language - Gretchen McCulloch Audiobook

Written by Gretchen McCulloch
Read by Gretchen McCulloch
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs
Release date: 07-23-19

Publisher’s Summary

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER!!

A linguistically informed look at how our digital world is transforming the English language.

“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.
©2019 Gretchen McCulloch (P)2019 Penguin Audio
Critic Reviews

“McCulloch lays out the ways in which online lingo, from emojis to GIFs to acronyms like “lol” and “omg,” has become a vital part of modern communication. It’s also an analog window into how the evolution of digital communication mirrors the shifts in word usage that have happened over generations.” (Wired, “Must-Read Books of Summer”)

“Because Internet is a rare gem: a groundbreaking scholarly study that’s also approachable, personable, and funny. McCulloch guides the reader through the seeming disorder of internet-influenced communications and deftly contextualizes all of it: memes and gifs, emoji and emoticons, weird punctuation and no punctuation. Her enthusiasm for language is matched by her command over the subject; if you’re worried that the internet has killed language, McCulloch’s extensive examination will convince you otherwise. Because Internet is an absolute unit: a unique linguistic study, a history of the internet, a how-to, and an encouragement that the omgs and cat pictures have only brought us closer together.” (Kory Stamper, author of Word by Word)

“A funny and fascinating examination of the evolution of language in the digital age.” (Publishers Weekly)