What the signs say: language gentrification, and place-making in Brooklyn

Introduction: Discovering a field site

Reading a "distinctive" Brooklyn

Deep wordplay: Registering, belonging, and excluding

Baby/mama in the Nabe: Gender, gentrification, race, and class

Competing semiotics: Elusive authenticity and the inevitable arrival of corporate America

Lessons from the street

Conclusion: Public language matters

Appendix: Demographic information about informant sample for sign type survey.