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Gretchen McCulloch
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Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language Hardcover – Illustrated, 23 July 2019

by Gretchen McCulloch (Author)
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AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!!
Named a Best Book of 2019 by TIME, Amazon, and The Washington Post
A Wired Must-Read Book of Summer  

“Gretchen McCulloch is the internet’s favorite linguist, and this book is essential reading. Reading her work is like suddenly being able to see the matrix.” —Jonny Sun, author of everyone's a aliebn when ur a aliebn too  

Because Internet is for anyone who's ever puzzled over how to punctuate a text message or wondered where memes come from. It's the perfect book for understanding how the internet is changing the English language, why that's a good thing, and what our online interactions reveal about who we are.

Language is humanity's most spectacular open-source project, and the internet is making our language change faster and in more interesting ways than ever before. Internet conversations are structured by the shape of our apps and platforms, from the grammar of status updates to the protocols of comments and @replies. Linguistically inventive online communities spread new slang and jargon with dizzying speed. What's more, social media is a vast laboratory of unedited, unfiltered words where we can watch language evolve in real time.

Even the most absurd-looking slang has genuine patterns behind it. Internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch explores the deep forces that shape human language and influence the way we communicate with one another. She explains how your first social internet experience influences whether you prefer "LOL" or "lol," why ~sparkly tildes~ succeeded where centuries of proposals for irony punctuation had failed, what emoji have in common with physical gestures, and how the artfully disarrayed language of animal memes like lolcats and doggo made them more likely to spread.
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  1. ISBN-10
    0735210934
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0735210936
  3. Edition
    Illustrated
  4. Publisher
    Prentice Hall Press
  5. Publication date
    23 July 2019
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    15.85 x 2.87 x 23.5 cm
  8. Print length
    288 pages
  9. See all details
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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
574 global ratings

Top reviews from United Kingdom

R
5.0 out of 5 stars Understanding how we speak
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 February 2021
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As a 20-something internet user, I'd like to imagine that I'm fairly adept at internet-speak. It is, however, one thing to recognise and use modern language, and another — much more intricate thing — to understand what is going on.

This book offers a wonderful examination of the changes that are occurring in ultra-modern English and similar trends that have occurred before.

What I like most about this book is that its author does not look down at the subject matter as some sort of betrayal of 'Proper English'.

Instead, Gretchen embraces today's youth and makes a case for the citizens of internet, the innovators of English, and the yeeting, bruh-ing, roflcopter that is my generation's chapter in the horribly battered, yet endearing mixtape that is English.

On a practical note, I have found that understanding the workings of 'gestures', 'emblems', 'phatic expressions', and other linguistic terms has given me an even greater appreciation for internet-speech now that I have (at least some) understanding of what it is I'm doing when I speak with friends.
4 people found this helpful
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Susan Stepney
5.0 out of 5 stars a differently literate world
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 January 2021
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Linguists study language in all its forms. Spoken language is the primary form, but written language is also of interest. Whilst most spoken language is informal, spontaneous, conversational, most written language is formal, studied, edited. Well, that was the case until the internet, with the explosion of informal writing in emails, texts, chats, and so on. This has provided linguists with a rich resource, with no recording and transcription required. McCulloch’s books covers a wide range of investigations into this informal internet language, and how it has been changing over time.

McCulloch explains why a full stop at the end of a text appears passive-aggressive, the evolution of emojis and why they aren’t a language, why the internet has enabled videophones when previous attempts failed, and multiple other fascinating insights into this new form of language.

This isn’t the post-literate world; this is a differently literate world. Because Internet.
2 people found this helpful
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Cormac
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyed
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 August 2019
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I find this quite hard to review. As someone whose degree is languages and day job is tech, I've loved Gretchen's Twitter and blogs and excitedly had this book on pre-order since the first day it was available.

I found it really, really interesting, at many points I texted friends with interesting things I'd found, and things I'd forgotten about from the usage of internet past (I'd totally forgotten o.O ever used to be a thing). I'll probably be handing this book out and passing it around friends.

However I couldn't help feel that there was just something missing. I found the book quite easy to put down and forget to pick up again, despite the fact I started reading it within ten minutes on day one that I received it, it took me three days to finish. I'm definitely going to be excitedly handing it out to friends, but I have a gut nervousness I can't quite place that worries that they just won't like it.

Overall, I'm really glad I read it and I'm not disappointed. I can definitely imagine myself rereading it, especially in a few years to look back at how it aged. Perhaps it's just a victim of my own overhyped expectations?
7 people found this helpful
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V
5.0 out of 5 stars Internet language studied from the inside
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 24 August 2019
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This is the first book I have ever preordered, and it did not disappoint. Gretchen McCulloch is the only linguist I have ever read who describes internet language from the perspective of an insider who actually uses and understands it. It's clear that she is really embedded in internet culture and analyses the way real people communicate online - unlike some writers who just describe what they think 'kids these days' are probably doing with emojis behind their backs.

I would recommend this read to anyone who ever uses the internet to communicate. If you socialise heavily online, you'll enjoy recognising patterns of communication that you really use, and seeing them carefully explained and analysed. If you don't, you'll get a better understanding of how other people are benefitting from the internet, and of what their idiosyncratic online communication really means.
3 people found this helpful
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MikeF
5.0 out of 5 stars The linguistics of a life lived on the internet...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 January 2021
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Fascinating - as a companion on this rather recondite journey, Gretchen McCulloch is all one could wish for. This is beautifully written, engaging, impressive and good-humoured book, equally engrossing from a linguistic and from an internet perspective. For an early web adopter like myself, there are some wonderful nostalgia trips as well as nuggets of previously unknown detail, and quirky, sideways insights. This is one of those books one is genuinely sorry to finish - a geek's delight!
2 people found this helpful
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RichGibbons
3.0 out of 5 stars Good overall
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 24 October 2019
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I quite enjoyed this book - it makes some great points and has some very interesting information. It felt more like reading a particularly casual textbook than anything else - but that probably shouldn't be a surprise given the subject matter.

I'd certainly recommend giving it a read.
5 people found this helpful
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Afterbrunel
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, academic, full
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 January 2021
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Plenty of information in this semi-academic work. It's quite long although the final quarter of the book is references. It's written by a Canadian but edited for a US readership. I had to look up what a "sock hop" was, for example.
2 people found this helpful
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last year's girl
4.0 out of 5 stars The book I've been wanting to read for the last 20 years
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 July 2021
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Print it on a scroll and shove it up the bumhole of anyone who still thinks being a grammar snob is cool. Or in any way correct.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Mara J.
5.0 out of 5 stars Fun and smart read!
Reviewed in Germany on 26 June 2023
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As fun as Ms McCullochs podcast; enlightening and perfect for a lay reader interested in language use.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, atrocious printing
Reviewed in the United States on 16 September 2020
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I'm exactly the extremely-online sort of nerd this book is meant for and I absolutely loved it. It's full of interesting information and extremely well paced -- an absolute pleasure to read. The author clearly cares a lot about getting ideas across succinctly, but also playfully.

The printing on the other hand -- hoo boy. I've never seen anything like it. There are pages where the top half is on a separate piece of paper than the bottom half! Not just a couple pages either, it's everywhere! These are all aesthetic problems though, and it was dirt cheap to buy, so I really don't care.
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giualonso
5.0 out of 5 stars A compelling essay about being alive in the internet
Reviewed in Brazil on 19 March 2020
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Such a fun read! Gretchen is always entertaining and clear. This book is kind of that teacher that teaches you something while acknowledging you also know things and have valuable insight to give. A great asset either you are a full internet person or someone that barely uses email.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and insightful from cover to cover
Reviewed in Canada on 9 August 2019
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In "Because Internet", Gretchen effortless explains the evolution of informal, written language on the internet, and the social context in which certain "dialects" of internet writing originated. Some of her descriptions—such as what I'm calling "boomer ellipses"—left my jaw on the floor, while I was flipping through this book endlessly on my commute home. The book is written in a semi-formal, disarming way, like a friend telling you an exciting story. With myriad examples and topics covered in the book, even the index is fun to read. Seriously! Read this book's index!

So, if you have ever wondered about whether a period at the end of a sentence is passive-aggressive or not, if you're wondering why emoji skyrocketed in popularity, if you've ever stressed about how to start an email message, this is the book for you.
2 people found this helpful
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Mongatzah
5.0 out of 5 stars Very well informed and comprehensive, well written.
Reviewed in France on 11 December 2019
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Very well informed and comprehensive, well written, and informative as well as enertaining to specialists. Trust me!
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