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Dictionary of Word Origins (Paperback)
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|Short Description for Dictionary of Word OriginsA guide to the origins and histories of over 300 commonly used words. With entries from accolade to zoo, and mini-essays throughout on general topics, this will appeal to anyone interested in words and language.
Full description- Publisher: KYLE CATHIE
- Published: 01 July 2004
- Format: Paperback 288 pages
- See: Full bibliographic data
- Categories: Dictionaries | Thesauri | Historical & Comparative Linguistics | Reference Works
- ISBN 13: 9781856265645 ISBN 10: 1856265641
- Sales rank: 397,230
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Full description for Dictionary of Word Origins
Words are the building blocks of language, but their derivations are often stories in themselves. Have you ever wondered why we wear perfume, read magazines, vote for candidates, speak in jargon? Sometimes the origin of a word can be pinpointed with great accuracy - sputnik entered the English language (and many other languages around the world) on the day the Russian spacecraft was launched in 1957. Others are vaguer - butterfly goes back at least a thousand years and, sadly, there is no evidence that the creature was ever called a flutterby. With entries from assassin to villain, bankrupt to sterling, cigar to tobacco, Linda and Roger Flavell explain the origins of 300 commonly used words.
