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.

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.

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.

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 ...

Contains alphabetically arranged entries that explore the origin, evolution, and social history of over three thousand English language words.

A guide to the science and process of etymology for the layperson explains how the origins and history of hundreds of words are determined, discussing such topics as folk etymology, changes of meaning in language history, borrowed words, and the methods of etymology.

Explains the meaning and implication of 400 phrases commonly used throughout the English-speaking world, such as: eager beaver and sour grapes.

This book delights in both the historical depth and the sheer quirkiness of English. The A to Z of words and phrases is interspersed with special features on such topics as Australian words, catchphrases, pop lyrics and street slang. Go straight to a word for its origin, or dip in and out for entertaining enlightenment. Travel the globe to find out more about the English language.

There are no direct records of the original Indo-European speech. By comparing the vocabularies of its various descendants, however, it is possible to reconstruct the basic Indo-European roots with considerable confidence. In The Origins of English Words, Shipley catalogues these proposed roots and follows the often devious, always fascinating, process by which some of their offshoots have grown. Anecdotal, eclectic, and always enthusiastic, The Origins of English Words is a diverting expedition beyond linguistics into literature, history, folklore, anthropology, philosophy, and science.

Explains the origins of thousands of words, proverbs, idioms, foreign language expressions, animal and plant names, and nicknames.