Being a linguistics major who spends a lot of time on The Interwebs, I was not surprised to find that this was right up my alley, especially since it came recommended by one of my linguistics professors. I remember being in high school and reblogging Tumblr language posts like those McCulloch mentions, experimenting with punctuation to indicate sarcasm, and trying to make lsimh ("laughing silently in my head") happen as an alternative to lol.

But even accounting for my prior interest in the topic, this is a well-written book — all the more impressive when you remember that it's really not easy to make nonfiction accessible and appealing to both the layperson and the reader with more base knowledge. (I won't claim to be an expert, but I did recognize many of the foundational sociolinguistics studies McCulloch cites.) The meta-jokes definitely help, in addition to casual use of correct linguistic and pop culture terminology; McCulloch's credibility also benefits from periodically acknowledging potential biases and blind spots.

This book offers a solid primer in Internet language, some relevant linguistics fundamentals, in addition to why we should even care. I'm not exaggerating when I say it actually made me reevaluate the way I think about and use language, and actually makes me want to keep my new year's resolution to read more nonfiction.

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CONVERSION: 11.5 / 15 = 4 stars

Prose: 8 / 10
Intellectual Engagement: 7 / 10
Credibility: 9 / 10
Organization / Structure: 6 / 10

Emotional Impact / Interest: 4 / 5
Memorability: 4 / 5