The Language of Food: A Linguist Reads the Menu (Paperback)
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A professor of linguistics and computer science at Stanford, Jurafsky explores both the history of common food terms and some of the cultural assumptions embedded in the way we currently describe what we eat, particularly on restaurant menus and food packaging. Although he draws on a great deal of recent scholarly research, including his own, Jurafsky writes with an easy familiarity that makes this book feel accessible to anyone with an interest in why a cookie (macaron) and a pasta (macaroni) share a common linguistic ancestor or how the more Americans pay for a dinner, the fewer choices they expect on a menu. Fun and informative.
Paperback.