A brower's dictionary and native's guide to the unknown American language
Author : John Anthony Ciardi
Publisher :
Page : pages
File Size : 13,65 MB
Release : 1980
Category :
ISBN :
Author : John Anthony Ciardi
Publisher :
Page : pages
File Size : 13,65 MB
Release : 1980
Category :
ISBN :
Author : John Ciardi
Publisher :
Page : 429 pages
File Size : 43,54 MB
Release : 1980
Category : Americanisms
ISBN :
Author : John Ciardi
Publisher : HarperCollins Publishers
Page : 360 pages
File Size : 39,54 MB
Release : 1983
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN :
Tells the stories, legends, and facts behind the origins of common American expressions.
Author : John Ciardi
Publisher :
Page : pages
File Size : 39,33 MB
Release : 1980
Category : English language
ISBN :
Author : John Ciardi
Publisher : HarperCollins Publishers
Page : 374 pages
File Size : 33,83 MB
Release : 1987
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN :
Examines the usage and origins of American language expressions.
Author : John Ciardi
Publisher : HarperCollins Publishers
Page : 360 pages
File Size : 17,56 MB
Release : 1983
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN :
Tells the stories, legends, and facts behind the origins of common American expressions.
Author : John Ciardi
Publisher : HarperCollins Publishers
Page : 452 pages
File Size : 17,44 MB
Release : 1980
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN :
"A compendium of curious expressions and intriguing facts"--Jacket subtitle.
Author : Ralph Keyes
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 393 pages
File Size : 32,34 MB
Release : 2021
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 0190466766
"How do words get coined? That question is explored in Ralph Keyes's latest book, The Hidden History of Coined Words. Based on meticulous research, Keyes has determined that successful neologisms are as likely to be created by chance as by intention. A remarkable number of new words were coined whimsically, he's discovered, to taunt, even to prank. Knickers resulted from a hoax, big bang from an insult. Wisecracking produced software, crowdsource, and blog. More than a few neologisms weren't even coined intentionally: they resulted from happy accidents such as typos, mistranslations, and misheard words like bigly and buttonhole, or from an unintended coinage such as Isaac Asimov's robotics. Many of the word coiners Keyes writes about come from unlikely quarters. Neologizers (a Thomas Jefferson coinage) include not just learned scholars and literary lions but cartoonists, columnists, children's authors, and children as well. Wimp, Keyes tells us, originated with an early 20th century book series on The Wymps, goop from a series about The Goops, and nerd from a book by Dr. Seuss. Competing claims to have coined terms like gonzo, mojo, and booty call are assessed, as is epic battles fought between new word partisans, and those who think we have enough words already. A concluding chapter offers pointers on how to coin a word of one's own. Written in a reader-friendly manner, The Hidden History of Coined Words will appeal not just to word lovers but history buffs, trivia contesters, and anyone at all who is interested in a well-informed good read"--
Author : Anatoly Liberman
Publisher : U of Minnesota Press
Page : 413 pages
File Size : 22,78 MB
Release :
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 1452913218
This work introduces renowned linguistics scholar Anatoly Liberman's comprehensive dictionary and bibliography of the etymology of English words. The English etymological dictionaries published in the past claim to have solved the mysteries of word origins even when those origins have been widely disputed. An Analytic Dictionary of English Etymology "by contrast, discusses all of the existing derivations of English words and proposes the best one. In the inaugural volume, Liberman addresses fifty-five words traditionally dismissed as being of unknown etymology. Some of the entries are among the most commonly used words in English, including man, boy, girl, bird, brain, understand, key, ever, " and yet." Others are slang: mooch, nudge, pimp, filch, gawk, " and skedaddle." Many, such as beacon, oat, hemlock, ivy," and toad," have existed for centuries, whereas some have appeared more recently, for example, slang, kitty-corner, " and Jeep." They are all united by their etymological obscurity. This unique resource book discusses the main problems in the methodology of etymological research and contains indexes of subjects, names, and all of the root words. Each entry is a full-fledged article, shedding light for the first time on the source of some of the most widely disputed word origins in the English language. "Anatoly Liberman is one of the leading scholars in the field of English etymology. Undoubtedly his work will be an indispensable tool for the ongoing revision of the etymological component of the entries in the Oxford English Dictionary."" --Bernhard Diensberg, OED" consultant, French etymologies Anatoly Liberman is professor of Germanic philology at the University of Minnesota. He has published many works, including 16 books, most recently Word Origins . . . and How We Know Them: Etymology for Everyone."
Author : Paul Dickson
Publisher : Courier Dover Publications
Page : 211 pages
File Size : 34,83 MB
Release : 2020-01-15
Category : History
ISBN : 048683722X
Entertaining, eminently readable volume compiles words and phrases coined or popularized by American presidents. Alphabetical listings feature a definition and (usually) a brief discussion that places them in historical context.