The Accidental Dictionary
Title | The Accidental Dictionary PDF eBook |
Author | Paul Anthony Jones |
Publisher | Simon and Schuster |
Pages | 209 |
Release | 2017-10-03 |
Genre | Language Arts & Disciplines |
ISBN | 1681775859 |
Our everyday language is full of surprises; its origins are stranger than you might think. Any word might be knocked and buffeted, subjected to twists and turns, expansions and contractions, happy and unhappy accidents. There are intriguing tales behind even the most familiar terms, and they can say as much about the present as they do the past.Busking, for instance, originally meant piracy. Grin meant to snarl. A bimbo was a man; nice meant ignorant; glamor was magic; and a cupboard was a table. Buxom used to mean obedient; a cloud was a rock; raunchy originally meant dirty.Focusing on one hundred surprising threads in the evolution of English, The Accidental Dictionary reveals the etymological origins and quirky developments that have led to the meanings we take for granted today. It is a weird and wonderful journey into words.
The Accidental Dictionary
Title | The Accidental Dictionary PDF eBook |
Author | Paul Anthony Jones |
Publisher | |
Pages | 224 |
Release | 2019-06-13 |
Genre | English language |
ISBN | 9781783964383 |
Brimming with hidden histories and tantalising twists, The Accidental Dictionary tells the extraordinary stories behind ordinary words. Our everyday language is full of surprises; its origins are stranger than you might think. Any word might be knocked and buffeted, subjected to twists and turns, expansions and contractions, happy and unhappy accidents. There are intriguing tales behind even the most familiar terms, and they can say as much about the present as they do the past. Busking, for instance, originally meant piracy. Grin meant to snarl. A bimbo was a man, nice meant ignorant, glamour was magic and a cupboard was a table... Focusing on 100 surprising threads in the evolution of English, The Accidental Dictionary reveals the etymological origins and quirky developments that have led to the meanings we take for granted today. It is a weird and wonderful journey into words. "A real delight ... hidden gems nestle on every page" -- JaffaReadsToo "The Accidental Dictionary is certainly worth adding [to a bookshelf]... I knew very few of these, which is a good thing, and now I know more, which is a better one" -- Marcus Berkmann, Spectator Christmas books 2016
The Encyclopædic Dictionary
Title | The Encyclopædic Dictionary PDF eBook |
Author | Robert Hunter |
Publisher | |
Pages | 790 |
Release | 1879 |
Genre | Encyclopedias and dictionaries |
ISBN |
The American Encyclopaedic Dictionary
Title | The American Encyclopaedic Dictionary PDF eBook |
Author | |
Publisher | |
Pages | 1158 |
Release | 1895 |
Genre | |
ISBN |
THE ENCYCLOPAEDIC DICTIONARY
Title | THE ENCYCLOPAEDIC DICTIONARY PDF eBook |
Author | |
Publisher | |
Pages | 2206 |
Release | 1896 |
Genre | |
ISBN |
The Cabinet of Linguistic Curiosities
Title | The Cabinet of Linguistic Curiosities PDF eBook |
Author | Paul Anthony Jones |
Publisher | University of Chicago Press |
Pages | 385 |
Release | 2019-10-14 |
Genre | Reference |
ISBN | 022664670X |
Open The Cabinet of Linguistic Curiosities and you’ll find both a word and a day to remember, every day of the year. Each day has its own dedicated entry, on which a curious or notable event—and an equally curious or notable word—are explored. On the day on which flirting was banned in New York City, for instance, you’ll discover why to “sheep’s-eye” someone once meant to look at them amorously. On the day on which a disillusioned San Franciscan declared himself Emperor of the United States, you’ll find the word “mamamouchi,” a term for people who consider themselves more important than they truly are. And on the day on which George Frideric Handel completed his 259-page Messiah after twenty-four days of frenzied work, you’ll see why a French loanword, literally meaning “a small wooden barrow,” is used to refer to an intense period of work undertaken to meet a deadline. The English language is vast enough to supply us with a word for every occasion—and this linguistic “wunderkammer” is here to prove precisely that. So whatever date this book has found its way into your hands, there’s an entire year’s worth of linguistic curiosities waiting to be found.
The New American Encyclopedic Dictionary
Title | The New American Encyclopedic Dictionary PDF eBook |
Author | Robert Hunter |
Publisher | |
Pages | 970 |
Release | 1906 |
Genre | Encyclopedias and dictionaries |
ISBN |