Wordbirds An irreverent lexicon for the 21st century

"The old dictionary has not expanded quickly enough to keep up with the ever-evolving backdrop of daily life in the twenty-first century," writes journalist, critic, and translator Schillinger in her introduction to this quirky collection of neologisms accompanied by illustrations of birds. She enlists Zechel (author and illustrator of the children's book Is There a Mouse in the Baby's Room?) to help her document more than a hundred newly coined terms that have appeared on Schillinger's blog of the same name. Many of her inventions are clever and fairly easy to understand ("recognore" is pretending not to see someone you'd prefer to avoid, a "shleperd" forces others to participate in lengthy travels in pursuit of high culture, a "canapig" is someone who stuffs his or her face with hors d'oeuvres) while others, even when used as part of a phrase, make little to no sense ("E-quail" is to feel dread upon receiving an email from an irritating source, "ortate" is to talk with one's mouth full). The most puzzling aspect of the book is the inclusion of the bird images. Though artfully drawn, they frequently have little or no clear relationship to the neologism they're paired with, making for a puzzling experience best left to the blogosphere. 151 full-color illus. Agent: Zoë Pagnamenta, Zoe Pagnamenta Agency. (Oct.) [Page ]. Copyright 2013 PWxyz LLC

Based on her Wordbirds blog, the author presents a fresh and funny collection of neologisms defining the oddities of modern life that we recognize, but, until now, were unable to put into words.

Presents a humorous collection of neologisms defining the oddities of modern life that are easy to recognize but difficult to put into words.

This charming and whimsically illustrated book of newly minted words—on politics and the media, love and friendship, work, play, family, fashion, and city life—presents a necessary vocabulary for the ever-changing customs of the young millennium. If you’ve escaped binary confinement and find yourself rushing cell-mell to a clusterfete— slurpwalking as you commutikaze—then who are you?You are a typical citizen of the young millennium, caught up in the fast-paced megatasking socio-professional whirl of our ever-evolving digitally-enhanced lives.If you’ve ever wondered what to call it when you answer the TV remote instead of the phone, or wished you had a phrase to capture your supervisor’s stealth campaign to stall your career, here is your guide. Now you can say “Oops, droidian slip!” with ease, and call out your boss for the impedimentor that he is. Armed with Wordbirds, you will be able to skillfully talk your way into, or out of, any situation the twenty-first century throws at you.With 150 gorgeous, Audubony, highly expressive bird illustrations, these neologisms will have you crowing with delight, and show you that fine feathers make fine words. Why birds, you may ask? Hadn’t you heard? The bird is the word.Now stop deliberotting and open this book!