Book Info
- Publisher: Que Publishing
- Pages: 244
- Price: US$14.95
- Pub. date: August 5, 2008
- Category: language
- Tags: etymology, words
Have you been having the crazy feeling that perhaps our language isn't as durable or as steadfast as your teachers made it out to be? Do you find yourself agreeing with the psychologist Julian Jaynes when he says that "we tend too much to think of language as being solid as a dictionary, with a granite-like permanence, rather than as the rampant restless sea of metaphor which it is"? Do you find yourself saying the phrase "rampant restless sea of metaphor" over and over in your mind?
Ah, I thought as much. Welcome, therefore, to the always wonderful and often downright wacky world of word histories (or etymology as the linguists call it). Welcome, that is, to The Complete Idiot's Guide to Weird Word Origins.
What's that? You never thought you'd hear adjectives such as "wacky" and "weird" associated with the history of words? Think again, oh soon-to-be-even-wiser-than-you-are-now reader! The study of word origins isn't about memorizing technical terms or resurrecting dead languages or puzzling over parts of speech. Instead, it's all about telling stories. The history of a word is a narrative, plain and simple: where the word began, how it changed over time, and how it got where it is today. Delightfully, these narratives are often full of plot twists, turning points, heroes and villains, and surprise endings.
So that's really what this is: a book of stories that tells you the fascinating and often amazing tales that lie behind many of the words and phrases you use every day. I had almost too much fun researching and writing this book, so I have the feeling you're going to get a real kick out of reading it. I hope you enjoy it.
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