Word Spy Book

This nifty little volume is proof that the English language is not only alive, it's kicking butt and taking names. Language junkies are familiar with the author's several dozen books and probably his website and maillist, too (for which he slips in a couple of plugs, but that's okay). What he's interested in here is the invention (or the organic rise, perhaps) of new words by all parts of society, from teen slang that mostly lasts two weeks to techie terms that have rooted themselves firmly in the wider culture, like "dot-com" or the verb "to google." He avoids stunt words (deliberate cleverness by some writer) and nonce words (which appear only once and die immediately). None of his examples existed before c.1980, and all have established a track record by appearing in a variety of public media. (He's aware of Sniglets, incidently, but points out that not one of those introduced by Rich Hall has actually entered the language.) Some new words are so obvious and so apt once you've heard them, you can't believe no one ever thought of them before. (He describes S. J. Perelman's delight when a mechanic told him his car had been "totaled.") The chapters are organized by source or context -- modern angst, modern politics and war, activism of all flavors, political correctness (itself an apt and sneering recent invention), advertising, the Internet revolution, pop psychology, baby-boom-ism, privacy and security (not to forget 9/11, now an overused shorthand), and even "Dilbert." He gives examples of usage from the media, too, some of which are a hoot. Still, there are gaps in the language for which no word has yet appeared, like a reasonable term for each other by adults who regularly go on dates ("Boyfriend" and "girlfriend" are a bit silly when you're over forty). This book is a great time-sink (that's in here, too), both fun and informative.