Author : John Ciardi
Publisher : HarperCollins Publishers
Page : 360 pages
File Size : 12,87 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 : 35,65 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 : 22,49 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 : 27,90 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 : 34,39 MB
Release : 2020-01-15
Category : Biography & Autobiography
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.
Author : Ralph Keyes
Publisher : Macmillan + ORM
Page : 380 pages
File Size : 49,22 MB
Release : 2009-03-31
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 1429952474
An entertaining and informative book about the fashion and fads of language Today's 18-year-olds may not know who Mrs. Robinson is, where the term "stuck in a groove" comes from, why 1984 was a year unlike any other, how big a bread box is, how to get to Peyton Place, or what the term Watergate refers to. I Love It When You Talk Retro discusses these verbal fossils that remain embedded in our national conversation long after the topic they refer to has galloped off into the sunset. That could be a person (Mrs. Robinson), product (Edsel), past bestseller (Catch-22), radio or TV show (Gangbusters), comic strip (Alphonse and Gaston), or advertisement (Where's the beef?) long forgotten. Such retroterms are words or phrases in current use whose origins lie in our past. Ralph Keyes takes us on an illuminating and engaging tour through the phenomenon that is Retrotalk—a journey, oftentimes along the timelines of American history and the faultlines of culture, that will add to the word-lover's store of trivia and obscure references. "The phrase "drinking the Kool-Aid" is a mystery to young people today, as is "45rpm." Even older folks don't know the origins of "raked over the coals" and "cut to the chase." Keyes (The QuoteVerifier) uses his skill as a sleuth of sources to track what he calls "retrotalk": "a slippery slope of puzzling allusions to past phenomena." He surveys the origins of "verbal fossils" from commercials (Kodak moment), jurisprudence (Twinkie defense), movies (pod people), cartoons (Caspar Milquetoast) and literature (brave new world). Some pop permutations percolated over decades: Radio's Take It or Leave It spawned a catch phrase so popular the program was retitled The $64 Question and later returned as TV's The $64,000 Question. Keyes's own book Is There Life After High School? became both a Broadway musical and a catch phrase. Some entries are self-evident or have speculative origins, but Keyes's nonacademic style and probing research make this both an entertaining read and a valuable reference work." --Publishers Weekly
Author :
Publisher :
Page : 1904 pages
File Size : 21,82 MB
Release : 1984
Category : Bibliography
ISBN :
Excerpts from and citations to reviews of more than 8,000 books each year, drawn from coverage of 109 publications. Book Review Digest provides citations to and excerpts of reviews of current juvenile and adult fiction and nonfiction in the English language. Reviews of the following types of books are excluded: government publications, textbooks, and technical books in the sciences and law. Reviews of books on science for the general reader, however, are included. The reviews originate in a group of selected periodicals in the humanities, social sciences, and general science published in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. - Publisher.
Author :
Publisher :
Page : 912 pages
File Size : 27,15 MB
Release : 1985
Category : Language and languages
ISBN :
Author : William Allison Shimer
Publisher :
Page : 1196 pages
File Size : 20,2 MB
Release : 1984
Category :
ISBN :
Author : Gail de Vos
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 426 pages
File Size : 27,48 MB
Release : 1996-04-15
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 0313069875
Explore the stories and themes that capture the imagination of young people today. A sampling of tales is organized into broad subject areas, such as contaminated food, threats to children, and satanic legends, and the tales are analyzed according to function, structure, and international variants. De Vos also discusses film and literary adaptions and offers suggestions for adapting tales for the junior high and high school curriculum. Explore the stories and themes that capture the imagination of young people today. After a fascinating overview and discussion of contemporary legends (commonly referred to as modern urban legends and often told as true), de Vos examines them in their relationship to rumors and gossip, ostension (acting out the legends), the role of the media in formulation and dissemination, and related tales (e.g., literary horror tales). A sampling of tales is organized into broad subject areas, such as contaminated food, threats to children, and satanic legends, and the legends are analyzed according to function, structure, and international variants. De Vos discusses some of the literary and visual adaptations in popular culture and offers suggestions for adapting tales for the junior high and high school curriculum. A fascinating professional book, this is a great resource to use with young adults.
