Do you have strong feelings about the word "irregardless"? Have you ever tried to define the word "is"? This account of how dictionaries are made is for you word mavens.
Many of us take dictionaries for granted, and few may realize that the process of writing dictionaries is, in fact, as lively and dynamic as language itself. With sharp wit and irreverence, Kory Stamper cracks open the complex, obsessive world of lexicography, from the agonizing decisions about what to define and how to do it, to the knotty questions of usage in an ever-changing language. 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.
Word by Word brings to life the hallowed halls (and highly idiosyncratic cubicles) of Merriam-Webster, a startlingly rich world inhabited by quirky and erudite individuals who quietly shape the way we communicate.

《词义的分析和描写》想在语言学的范围内讨论词义的分析和描写。词义的分析和描写历来被认为是语言学中最困难的问题之一。虽然如此，仍然有为数不少的人在语言学研究中，在词典编纂工作中，在语文教学中进行了多方面的探索，积累了相当丰富的认识和经验。国外越来越多的语言学、语义学著作在国内得到流传和介绍，也开阔了我们的眼界。为了总结和探索词义分析、描写的理论和方法，作者从1981年起在北京大学汉语专业开设“词义分析”课，1986年应邀在北京语言学院语文系讲课，1987年应邀赴新疆大学讲课，也讲授了其中的一部分或大部分内容。《词义的分析和描写》就是在历次讲课所用讲稿的基础上加工修改写成的。