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Because Internet cover art

Because Internet

Written by: Gretchen McCulloch
Narrated by: Gretchen McCulloch
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Publisher's Summary

An Instant New York Times Best Seller!

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.

©2019 Gretchen McCulloch (P)2019 Penguin Audio

What the critics say

“McCulloch is such a disarming writer - lucid, friendly, unequivocally excited about her subject - that I began to marvel at the flexibility of the online language she describes, with its numerous shades of subtlety.” (The New York Times)

“McCulloch’s book is a good start in guiding readers to consider the wild language of the internet as a thing of wonder - a valuable feature, not a bug.” (The Wall Street Journal)


“[An] effervescent study of how the digital world is transfiguring English.... [McCulloch’s] almost political thesis - the more voices, the better - rebukes both the élitism of traditional grammar snobs and the cliquishness of, say, Tumblr. It’s a vision of language as one way to make room for one another.” (The New Yorker)

What listeners say about Because Internet

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Because awesome!

Gretchen writes an amazing book full of fascinating insights into what the internet is doing to the English language. She makes listening to the audiobook fun and you can hear the sparkles and the lol vs LOL. Buy it now!

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Excellent book. Needs better narrator

This book is everything I was expecting content-wise, but it would have been better served by a professional reader. During the first hour or so, I kept checking my app to make sure it wasn't at 1.5 speed.

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Because, You don't have to be a linguist ...

“Because, Internet: Understanding the new rules of language” by Gretchen McCulloch is one of the best books I have ever read. You don't need to be a linguist to appreciate this book! If you are intellectually curious and interested in communication, I strongly recommend this book to you. Here are five (of the many!) things that I learned from reading Because Internet:

- the history of internet communication (including references to relevant punctuation and grammar from decades and even centuries ago)
- a segmentation scheme of various “internet people”
- the use and proliferation of various acronyms, emojis, memes, GIFs…
- how we implicitly (and often accidentally) communicate things about ourselves though our use of punctuation, grammar, emojis, etc.
- why and how we can feel empowered to take note of and to have fun with punctuation (in emails, texts, on social media,…)

I first read (heard) this book on Audible, and now I bought a hardcover copy, something that I rarely do! I lamented the end of this book; it is a rare thing to learn so much and to be entertained at the same time. I didn’t want the book to end! Thank you to author and linguist, Gretchen McCulloch!

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a voice to match

For a book about language in written form, this author has great oral English. She speaks the sample texts with intonation and emotion that the best emoji’s could only dream of... and oh yeah, the content is good too.

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Excellent insights and friendly, clear voice

Listening to Gretchen McCulloch speak on Internet Linguistics is a joy. She is clearly passionate about her subject, and conveys it in a way that thoroughly engages the reader (in this case the listener!). Her voice is very well modulated, and at the same time we can detect the humour that she finds in the many examples she uses to illustrate her points. I was very much amused by her pronunciation of dshglfeidj followed by qwreoitoiu!! The book is very well researched, with insights taken from the ancient Greeks as well as modern teen culture and many other linguists - both past and present. Although McCulloch is clearly very knowledgeable about the academic elements of linguistics, she keeps the book firmly aimed at the average reader/listener. Her whole manner conveys freshness with each new thought that she explores. I love this book!

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Excellent linguistic analysis of internet

Author's enthusiasm is contagious and makes narration compelling. Topic is fascinating and her analysis convincing. Takes ideas in unexpected directions. well worth it.

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