Author: Reader's Digest Association, Limited
Publisher: Reader's Digest Association
ISBN: 9780276442445
Category : English language
Languages : en
Pages : 382
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Book Description
Reveals the secrets, scandals and surprises behind the words used every day. This book includes the stories and the personalities that have helped shape the English language from William Shakespeare and Lord Byron, to Rudyard Kipling and Salmon Rushdie.
Author: Jordan Almond
Publisher: Citadel Press
ISBN: 9780806517131
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 292
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Book Description
This dictionary gives the intriguing origins of hundreds of everyday words and expressions. Useful for reference and fun just for browsing, Dictionary of Word Origins is also a great way to expand vocabulary and enjoy doing it.
Author: William Morris
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 006015862X
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 516
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Book Description
The Morrises, well-known lexicographers, published a dictionary of the same title in 1977, a revision of a three-volume work published between 1962 and 1971. This new revision, which provides histories of interesting words and phrases in the English language, is similar in concept to several books by John Ciardi. Like Ciardi's works, the etymologies and phrase origins are presented in a readable style, making them a joy to browse.
Author: Max Cryer
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com
ISBN: 1458785599
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 406
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Book Description
Believe it or not, this is probably the first book to attempt to identify the original sources of some of the English language's most common expressions. We might think we know who first said famous for fifteen minutes, annus horribilis, the cold war and let them eat cake. It's a no brainer, you might say, but Max Cryer has a surprise or two in ...
Author: Neil Ewart
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780713713541
Category : English language
Languages : en
Pages : 162
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Book Description
Explains the meaning and implication of 400 phrases commonly used throughout the English-speaking world, such as: eager beaver and sour grapes.
Author: Julia Cresswell
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199547939
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 514
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Book Description
Contains alphabetically arranged entries that explore the origin, evolution, and social history of over three thousand English language words.
Author: Anatoly Liberman
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199889015
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 336
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Book Description
Written in a funny, charming, and conversational style, Word Origins is the first book to offer a thorough investigation of the history and the science of etymology, making this little-known field accessible to everyone interested in the history of words. Anatoly Liberman, an internationally acclaimed etymologist, takes the reader by the hand and explains the many ways that English words can be made, and the many ways in which etymologists try to unearth the origins of words. Every chapter is packed with dozens of examples of proven word histories, used to illustrate the correct ways to trace the origins of words as well as some of the egregiously bad ways to trace them. He not only tells the known origins of hundreds of words, but also shows how their origins were determined. And along the way, the reader is treated to a wealth of fascinating word facts. Did they once have bells in a belfry? No, the original meaning of belfry was siege tower. Are the words isle and island, raven and ravenous, or pan and pantry related etymologically? No, though they look strikingly similar, these words came to English via different routes. Partly a history, partly a how-to, and completely entertaining, Word Origins invites readers behind the scenes to watch an etymologist at work.
Author: Robert Hendrickson
Publisher: Facts on File
ISBN: 9780816040889
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 754
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Book Description
Explains the origins of thousands of words, proverbs, idioms, foreign language expressions, animal and plant names, and nicknames.
Author: Paul McFedries
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9781592577811
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 260
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Book Description
What does it mean to 'chew the fat'? Why do we put things in 'apple-pie order'? And what on earth is a 'hat trick'? Readers will learn all this and more in this fun and engaging new addition to the Complete Idiot's Guide® series, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Weird Word Origins. This humorous book provides entertaining insight on the often metaphorical, always taken-for-granted phrases and expressions used every day. In it, language expert Paul McFedries takes readers through the sometimes surprising, always amusing world of weird words and expressions, and the fascinating stories that surround them. Presented in a fun, easy-to-read style, this book takes readers on a journey through the bizarre and eccentric origins that make up our everyday speech.
Author: Joseph Twadell Shipley
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 0801896436
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 672
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Book Description
Anecdotal, eclectic, and always enthusiastic, The Origins of English Words is a diverting expedition beyond linguistics into literature, history, folklore, anthropology, philosophy, and science.
