A Pleasure in Words PDF Download

Author: Eugene T. Maleska
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 9780671248819
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 452

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Author: Richard Lederer
Publisher: Waterside Productions
ISBN: 9781954968936
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 136

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Book Description
To the man or woman who knows its origin, each word presents a picture, no matter how ordinary it may appear. Illuminating the faded image of a time-hallowed word or phrase throws light on who we are and where we came from. What does indenting a paragraph have to do with teeth? What's the origin of The cat's got your tongue? Why do we call left-handers southpaws? You'll find the answers in these pages, as best-selling language author Richard Lederer passionately and humorously explores the history and mystery of everyday language. Richard Lederer is the author of more than fifty books about language, history, and humor, including his best-selling Anguished English series and his current books, Richard Lederer's Ultimate Book of Literary Trivia and So That's What It Means! He is a founding co-host of A Way With Words broadcast on Public Radio. Dr. Lederer's syndicated column, Lederer on Language, appears in newspapers and magazines throughout the United States. He has been named International Punster of the Year and Toastmasters International's Golden Gavel winner. He lives in San Diego with his wife, Simone van Egeren.

Author: Mark Forsyth
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101611766
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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This perfect gift for readers, writers, and literature majors alike unearths the quirks of the English language. For example, do you know why a mortgage is literally a “death pledge”? Why guns have girls’ names? Why “salt” is related to “soldier”? Discover the answers to all of these etymological questions and more in this fascinating book for fans of of Eats, Shoots & Leaves. The Etymologicon is a completely unauthorized guide to the strange underpinnings of the English language. It explains how you get from “gruntled” to “disgruntled”; why you are absolutely right to believe that your meager salary barely covers “money for salt”; how the biggest chain of coffee shops in the world connects to whaling in Nantucket; and what, precisely, the Rolling Stones have to do with gardening. This witty book will awake the linguist in you and illuminate the hidden meanings behind common words and phrases, tracing their evolution through all of their surprising paths throughout history.

Author: William Morris
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN:
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 678

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Book Description
The first Edition of the "Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins" detailed the fascinating and little known stories behind thousands of words and phrases that we use every day. In this new edition, William and Mary Morris update and expand their classic work to keep pace with our ever changing language. New entries include: "New trends"--crack, glitch, greenmail, Harrier attack airplanes "Foreign terms"--falafel, geisha, jihad, paparazzi "People"--batman, dead end kid, Dutch uncle, hatchet man, Young Turks "Given names"--Chester, Edith, Jennifer and others "Food"--Adam and Eve on a raft, alligator pear, grapefruit, Harriet Lane "Sports"--box score, cheese champions, full court press "and many more" Throughout the Morris' s present the histories of intriguing expressions in an eminently entertaining and readable fashion.

Author: Ralph Keyes
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190466782
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Successful word-coinages--those that stay in currency for a good long time--tend to conceal their beginnings. We take them at face value and rarely when and where they were first minted. Engaging, illuminating, and authoritative, Ralph Keyes's The Hidden History of Coined Words explores the etymological underworld of terms and expressions and uncovers plenty of hidden gems. He also finds some fascinating patterns, such as that successful neologisms are as likely to be created by chance as by design. A remarkable number of new words were coined whimsically, originally intended to troll or taunt. Knickers, for example, resulted from a hoax; big bang from an insult. Casual wisecracking produced software, crowdsource, and blog. More than a few resulted from happy accidents, such as typos, mistranslations, and mishearing (bigly and buttonhole), or from being taken entirely out of context (robotics). Neologizers (a Thomas Jefferson coinage) include not just scholars and writers but cartoonists, columnists, children's book authors. Wimp originated with a book series, as did goop, and nerd from a book by Dr. Seuss. Coinages are often contested, controversy swirling around such terms as gonzo, mojo, and booty call. Keyes considers all contenders, while also leading us through the fray between new word partisans, and those who resist them strenuously. He concludes with advice about how to make your own successful coinage. The Hidden History of Coined Words will appeal not just to word mavens but history buffs, trivia contesters, and anyone who loves the immersive power of language.

Author: Robert B. Taylor
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319503286
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
This book tells the intriguing and often colorful stories of the medical words we use. The origins of clinical and scientific terms can be found in Greek and Latin myths, in places such as jungles of Uganda and the islands of the Aegean Sea, in the names of medicine’s giants such as Hippocrates and Osler, and in some truly unlikely sources. In this book you will learn the answers to questions such as: • What disease was named for an American space flight? • Do you know the echoic word for elephantine rumbling of the bowels? • What drug name was determined by drawing chemists’ notes out of a hat? • What are surfer’s eye, clam digger’s itch, and hide porter’s disease? This book can give you new insights into the terms we use every day in the clinic, hospital, and laboratory. Knowing a word’s history assists in understanding not only what it means, but also some of the connotative subtleties of terms used in diagnosis and treatment. The Amazing Language of Medicine is intended for the enrichment of physicians, other health professionals, students, and anyone involved in clinical care and medical science.

Author: Dhirendra Verma
Publisher: Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd
ISBN: 9788120719309
Category : English
Languages : en
Pages : 444

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Author: Ebenezer Cobham Brewer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Allusions
Languages : en
Pages : 800

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Author: Anatoly Liberman
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199889015
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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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: Paul McFedries
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101217189
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
Get ready to chew the fat. This engaging, humorous new book explains the not-so-common origins of such commonly used phrases as “apple-pie order,” “chew the fat,” and “hat trick.” Presented in a fun, easy-to-read style, it provides entertaining insight on metaphorical phrases, weird words, and strange expressions and takes readers on a journey through the bizarre and eccentric origins that make up our everyday speech. • Word books have gained in popularity not just with students and linguaphiles, but with a general population interested in the fascinating development of our language. • Contains back stories for 500 intriguing words and phrases. • Fun to flip through and also fun to read cover to cover.