A review by ury949
Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language, by Gretchen McCulloch

5.0

Really interesting, fun, and remarkably lucid with such a viscous topic. From explaining the origins and nuances of sparkle sarcasm to the note about the type at the end which included the source for her emojis. McCulloch shamelessly explains for the "linguistic historians of the future" very helpful guidance to readers who may not be familiar with every bit of pop culture to have graced the screens of our devices. Of the many things I learned while reading this book, the most profound for me was the revelation that language evolves, even today, as does our social interactions, one not necessarily the cause of the other, and woe be the sad static culture that insists on "proper" ways of writing and communicating, be it through grammar and punctuation, or the historic value of the words we employ. As much as I recognized and understood the different writing styles of the informal internet, only after reading this book do I truly accept and embrace these weird and wonderful ways of interacting with our fellow humans.