{"product_id":"9780465060696","title":"The Word Detective: Searching for the Meaning of It All at the Oxford English Dictionary","description":"\u003cp\u003eCan you drink a glass of balderdash? What do you call the part of a dog's back it can't scratch? And if, serendipitously, you find yourself in Serendip, then where exactly are you?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe answers to all of these questions—and a great many more—can be found in the pages of the \u003ci\u003eOxford English Dictionary\u003c\/i\u003e, the definitive record of the English language. And there is no better guide to the dictionary's many wonderments than the former chief editor of the \u003ci\u003eOED\u003c\/i\u003e, John Simpson. Simpson spent almost four decades of his life immersed in the intricacies of our language, and guides us through its history with charmingly laconic wit. In \u003ci\u003eThe Word Detective\u003c\/i\u003e, an intensely personal memoir and a joyful celebration of English, he weaves a story of how words come into being (and sometimes disappear), how culture shapes the language we use, and how technology has transformed not only the way we speak and write but also how words are made.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThroughout, he enlivens his narrative with lively excavations and investigations of individual words—from \u003ci\u003edeadline\u003c\/i\u003e to \u003ci\u003eonline\u003c\/i\u003e and back to \u003ci\u003e101\u003c\/i\u003e (yes, it's a word)—all the while reminding us that the seemingly mundane words (can you name the four different meanings of \u003ci\u003ema\u003c\/i\u003e?) are often the most interesting ones. But Simpson also reminds us of the limitations of language: spending his days in the \u003ci\u003eOED\u003c\/i\u003e's house of words, his family at home is forced to confront the challenges of wordlessness.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA brilliant and deeply humane expedition through the world of words, \u003ci\u003eThe Word Detective\u003c\/i\u003e will delight and inspire any lover of language.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Basic Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47025737466096,"sku":"9780465060696","price":27.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780465060696_p0.jpg?v=1763706226","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780465060696","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}