The Secret Lives of WordsHarcourt, 2000 - 296 páginas We are often unaware of the unique and intriguing stories of the words we love. Thousands of our words have been so twisted, tangled, misused, and muddled over the centuries that their original meaning has been obscured. You'll be surprised to learn that table napkins were once made of and referred to as asbestos, that atom means uncuttable, that a cloud was once a hill, and that a companion is one who eats bread with you. Compiled over the years in his handwritten notebooks, acclaimed prose stylist Paul West offers us an album of treasures. The Secret Lives of Words is an "Antiques Road Show" of language, in which West chronicles the centuries-long travels of words across continents and through cultures. For word enthusiasts, speakers, writers, thinkers, and all readers, this volume recounting the intimate ancestry of language will enrich our understanding of and appreciation for the words we use every day. |
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Página 42
... least the year 1000 , arrived per- haps from such a word as bliss ( origin of blithe ) . When we sneeze , others bathe us in blood . BLIGHTY More familiar from the song " Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty " than from the heartsick ...
... least the year 1000 , arrived per- haps from such a word as bliss ( origin of blithe ) . When we sneeze , others bathe us in blood . BLIGHTY More familiar from the song " Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty " than from the heartsick ...
Página 52
... least the common cabbage white , has wings the color of butter or milk , or indeed buttermilk . Or is it the creamy look of butterfly ex- crement that names the fly ? Milk the idea a bit further and find that Monarchs live on milkweed ...
... least the common cabbage white , has wings the color of butter or milk , or indeed buttermilk . Or is it the creamy look of butterfly ex- crement that names the fly ? Milk the idea a bit further and find that Monarchs live on milkweed ...
Página 269
... least , at least , go anti - clockwise as you look at them while piloting , the veer is rightward , and you push left rudder . There is torque in tort , extort , torture , contort , re- tort , tortuous , distorted , and torment . It is ...
... least , at least , go anti - clockwise as you look at them while piloting , the veer is rightward , and you push left rudder . There is torque in tort , extort , torture , contort , re- tort , tortuous , distorted , and torment . It is ...
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Términos y frases comunes
actually akin American ancient Anglo-Saxon Arabic ball became become blurb bread British called Cockney rhyming slang coined comes course cricket denote deriving dialect Diane Ackerman dictionaries diminutive doubt Dutch etymology famous fiction gluons Greek haps heard human idea idiom Indo-European indri invented Italian Janet language late Latin LIVES OF WORDS look meaning meant metaphor Middle English military mind modern Nazi never nineteenth century noun novel nowadays oddly Old English Old French Old Norse once origin PAUL WEST perhaps person phrase piropo plural poet prehistoric Germanic pudding quarks reference Rhesus rhyming Romans SCREW THE POOCH SCUZZ SECRET LIVES seems sense seventeenth century sixteenth century slang someone sometimes sound speech spin sure Syphilis teenth century term thing thought tion toast trying verb verbal Vulgar Latin whereas woman wonder word's write
Referencias a este libro
Dubious Doublets: A Delightful Compendium of Unlikely Word Pairs of Common ... Stewart Edelstein Vista de fragmentos - 2003 |