The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll Through the Hidden Connections of the English LanguageThis 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. |
Contents
Suffering formy Underwear Pans | |
The Proof of the Pudding SausagePoisonin YourFace | |
Sex andBread Concealed Farts Wool | |
InsultingFoods Folk Etymology Butterflies of the World | |
Other editions - View all
The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll Through the Hidden Connections of the ... Mark Forsyth No preview available - 2016 |
The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll Through the Hidden Connections of the ... Mark Forsyth No preview available - 2011 |
Common terms and phrases
American ancient anda andthe AngloSaxons Antanaclasis arecalled asthe atthe beard became blank Bogey bogeyman Britain British buck buff Buffalo bison Buffalo buffalo Buffalo Buncombe County butterfly butthe called chap Christian codpiece comefrom comes fromthe comesfrom crap decided dictionary didn’t dowith Dutch English language English words Englishspeaking etymologically finger folk etymology forhill French Georges Lemaître German Greek Gunhilda hadbeen Halcyon hewas Ifyou Infact inthe intothe invented island Ismailis isthat it’sa Italian itwas John Johnson’s known Latin lavatory linguistic means meant medieval never nineteenth century ofthe once onthe original Pensax Peter phrase placebo Portobello Road probably realised reason Romans Saint Pantaleon Sandwich sausage Shell shi shi shi shortened SPAM started stone story thatthe thatthey themost There’s thesame theword things Thomas Crapper tobe tothe turkey wasa wasan What’s whichis withthe WorldWar worm write wrote youcan Youmay