Kory Stamper
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korystamper.bsky.social
Kory Stamper
@korystamper.bsky.social
4.2K followers 330 following 740 posts
Writer of dictionaries and books about dictionaries (WORD BY WORD [2017]; TRUE COLOR [2026]; more TK). niila myaamia. Often wrong on the internet. Opinions, baked goods mine. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2106554/kory-stamper/
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korystamper.bsky.social
Galleys are in! This spine design is A+.
Galleys of my next book, "True Color." You can see the front cover (a tan field with 12 multicolored...tabs? Cards? Books? Hard to tell!) and one book up on end so you can see its spine. The spine has six colored lines separating my name and the title, and I love it.
October 14, 2025 at 8:34 PM
korystamper.bsky.social
Well, I definitely have a type (of index).
Part of the index for Word by Word, my first book. The terms indexed are "Plato, 27," "Pliny the Elder, 176," "pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconisos, 101." Screenshot of the index for my latest book, "True Color." The excerpt reads: Plato, 15 Pliny the Elder, 26, 26n Plochere, Gladys, 209 Plochere, Gustav, 209 Plochere, Michelle, 209n Plochere Color System, 209, 241 "pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis," 149 I promise that all references to Plato, Pliny, and P45 in _this_ book are different from the same references to Plato, Pliny, and P45 in the _other_ book.
October 5, 2025 at 7:00 PM
korystamper.bsky.social
omg, Iva, stop spying on me!
From the directions for how to make turkey stock from Iva's cookbook: "Strain the stock through a sieve or colander into another pot--oh my god, don't absentmindedly pour it down the sink--and portion it out into smaller containers to cool."
October 4, 2025 at 6:07 PM
korystamper.bsky.social
Grateful for the opportunity to grow myaamia kociihsaki, one of my people's traditional foods.
A handful of dried beans that are dark purple on one end and speckle to a grayish white.
October 2, 2025 at 12:04 AM
korystamper.bsky.social
I know the world is falling apart and we are angst-driven ants biding our time as we race toward the inexorable crush of the universe's collapse, but doesn't this make you chortle just a little?
A small section of the index for True Color, from the end of A. It reads: atoms, 54, 102 "aubergine," 46 "auburn," 224 Australians, 46
September 30, 2025 at 1:14 AM
korystamper.bsky.social
I, too, have summoned all my top generals on short notice to deliver a short speech on the warrior ethos.
A brown hound dog lying on her side, her head as far away from my blather about warfighters and military drive and shit as she can get. (I am obviously not lecturing my dog on military excellence because I have a real job with real duties, Mister Secretary.)
September 26, 2025 at 6:57 PM
korystamper.bsky.social
It's spinning season, motherfuckers.
A picture of a spinning wheel with some wool being spun on the bobbin, and Sadie dog sleeping behind the wheel because it is the most soothing sound, for reals.
September 20, 2025 at 6:31 PM
korystamper.bsky.social
a riff on "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle with the caterpillar in the middle of the picture. Above it reads "Reject tasks"; below it reads "embrace cocoon."
September 19, 2025 at 12:24 AM
korystamper.bsky.social
Today's mantra:
A screenshot from UNHhhh (a youtube show featuring two drag queens) that shows a close-up of an Australian Shepherd in a pink wig, and around the dog's head are the words "You shouldn't put on wigs that don't belong to you," and these are truly words to live by.
September 18, 2025 at 7:59 PM
korystamper.bsky.social
So...who did the bus shoot?
An email subject line from Nextdoor Local News* that reads "Altercation leads to shooting involving SEPTA bus...." *I was on Nextdoor for--and this is not an exaggeration--about 15 minutes before I deleted the app, but that was evidently long enough to be put on Nextdoor's fuckin' mailing list until the end of days.
August 24, 2025 at 8:59 PM
korystamper.bsky.social
Not what I was expecting when I looked out the window at the birdfeeder, but I respect the hustle.
A close-up of a thistle seed bird feeder in my front yard. Clinging to the side of the feeder about 1/3 of the way up, and absolutely going to town, is the fattest mouse you have ever seen.
August 21, 2025 at 10:29 PM
korystamper.bsky.social
Can you tell which one of us is the loud one in this marriage?
A picture of two people standing next to each other, hugging. The photo is focused on their shirts. One (me) is wearing a green shirt that says, in all caps, "NO NAZIS, NO KINGS, GO BIRDS". The other person (Herr Maestro) is wearing a black shirt that reads, in all lowercase, "do justice, love mercy, walk humbly". This is the picture of a perfect marriage.
August 16, 2025 at 6:46 PM
korystamper.bsky.social
<stares at camera indigenously>
Part of a post by djt which reads, "What he doesn't understand is that if he changed the name back to the Cleveland Indians, he might actually win an Election. Indians are being treated very unfairly. MAKE INDIANS GREAT AGAIN (MIGA)!" You complete and utter... mooyiinkweeta.
July 21, 2025 at 12:15 AM
korystamper.bsky.social
Good morning, kids and people, today in book, we have a cover:

(Preorder this jawn at www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/555914... and use the Bookshop link if you can!)
The book cover for my latest book, "True Color: The Strange and Spectacular History of Defining Color--from Azure to Zinc Pink." It's a tan ground with multicolored...folded-over cards, or windows with shades, or books that are kind of fanned open, or color chips (it's meant to be mysterious) in a 4x3 grid with the title and the author name (mine) between each row.
July 15, 2025 at 3:41 PM
korystamper.bsky.social
COLOR BOOK PAGE PROOFS! Last chance to catch (most of the) embarrassing typos!
A stack of page proofs for my NEW BOOK. The title page is showing: it reads "A Trick of Light." There's a red pen resting on top of the stack of proofs. I have a lot of reading to do.
June 26, 2025 at 10:44 PM
korystamper.bsky.social
I think I had more people and more energy at this talk I gave about "irregardless," where I followed this slide with one that was just a giant poop emoji.
A zoomed-out picture of me standing at a lectern on a very large and empty stage speaking to, I dunno, maybe 3000 people? You can see about a third of the crowd. Behind me are three stadium screens that all say "irregardless." The then-director of Chautauqua told me I was the first person in the history of that august institution to ever use the poop emoji in a lecture. Put it on my tombstone. (Also, this picture looks eerily like I'm preaching at a megachurch.)
June 15, 2025 at 1:04 AM
korystamper.bsky.social
Writing the very last two bits of the color book before I turn it back it to the production editor after my copyedit review:
A chapter heading that reads "Acknowledgments." Another chapter heading that reads "Ack! No!-ledgments." I probably won't turn this one in, honestly, but damn it feels good to write it.
May 27, 2025 at 3:50 AM
korystamper.bsky.social
"Don't you have a therapist or a friend you can talk to?"
A brown hound dog curled up on the bolster pillow in her crate, her head resting heavily on the bolster at the opening of her crate, every single muscle in her sweet muzzle just laser-beaming weariness and a little contempt at me as I say "Oh, Rose, you're so stuck up."
May 25, 2025 at 5:41 PM
korystamper.bsky.social
To think that we're never again going to get amazing government publications like this one.
A report cover: "Weights and Measures Standards of the United States: a brief history." National Bureau of Standards Special Publication 447, U.S, Department of Commerce. Originally issued October 1963, updated March 1976. The cover has a lot of red pen line drawings of weights (cylinders, spheres with tiny handles) and measures (sticks. Two sticks!) and something that's supposed to evoke an atom.
May 24, 2025 at 9:34 PM
korystamper.bsky.social
Can confirm dust was blowing. Took the dog out for a quick walk right before it started: macrodermabrasion.
A national weather service alert for the little town in Indiana where dog and I are currently holed up. It reads "blowing dust advisory, start Friday, may 16, 7:23pm, end Friday may 16, 11:00pm." Look at that start time: 7:23pm. The national weather service is a treasure and I hope a tornado, flood, and dust storm permanently ruin the happiness and fortunes of the jackwads who want to defund it into oblivion.
May 17, 2025 at 12:53 AM
korystamper.bsky.social
Feels like we all could use this right now.
April 30, 2025 at 7:55 PM
korystamper.bsky.social
Good news, everyone, "le chien Sadie" scans perfectly to the tune "Le Poisson Steve."
Le chien Sadie (ah ah AH aaaah)
April 27, 2025 at 1:28 PM
korystamper.bsky.social
I've seen enough: I'm calling it "Franch" from here on out.
A excerpt from a NYTimes story about weather reports from NOAA, which reads "...a company that used artificial intelligence to translate critical warnings into Spanish, Franch and a handful of other languages." This is why you don't "rightsize" the copyediting desk, NYTimes! (The lack of serial comma, while irksome, is not wrong, it's just AP Style.)
April 24, 2025 at 10:05 PM
korystamper.bsky.social
Feel like you might explode if you read any more news? Can recommend going to a hockey game and yelling until you lose your voice, A+ catharsis.
A picture of the Wells Fargo Center ice after the first period of the Philadelphia Flyers v. Montreal Canadiens game. Everything is bathed in apocalyptic orange light, go Flyers.
March 28, 2025 at 12:52 AM
korystamper.bsky.social
fixed it for you
A mapquest screenshot of the Gulf of Mexico, but the gulf has been renamed "Gulf of iHeartRadio presents LIVE at the CapitalOne Forum."
February 20, 2025 at 2:30 AM