Because Internet

Gretchen McCulloch's study of online language argues that the internet is changing English quickly and often points to offline precedents for patterns seen online. Because so much informal writing is now public, everyday communication can be studied more easily than before. The linguist explains why a first social internet experience shapes a preference for LOL or lol, why the sarcasm tilde caught on where proposed irony marks failed, and why a final period in a text can feel passive-aggressive. Emoji, McCulloch writes, do the work that gestures do in speech, and some slang dates back to the Jargon File that programmers began keeping in 1975. The book appeared in 2019 and became a New York Times best seller.

Wordnik founder Erin McKean praised it as a joyful look at the newest creative surge in English.