eBook - ePub

The Accidental Dictionary

Name: The Accidental Dictionary
Author: Paul Anthony Jones

Paul Anthony Jones,

224 pages
English
ePUB (mobile friendly)
Available on iOS & Android

eBook - ePub

The Accidental Dictionary

Paul Anthony Jones,

About this book

Our everyday language is full of surprises; its origins are stranger than you might think. Any word might be knocked and buffeted, subjected to twists and turns, expansions and contractions, happy and unhappy accidents. There are intriguing tales behind even the most familiar terms, and they can say as much about the present as they do the past.Busking, for instance, originally meant piracy. Grin meant to snarl. A bimbo was a man; nice meant ignorant; glamor was magic; and a cupboard was a table. Buxom used to mean obedient; a cloud was a rock; raunchy originally meant dirty.Focusing on one hundred surprising threads in the evolution of English, The Accidental Dictionary reveals the etymological origins and quirky developments that have led to the meanings we take for granted today. It is a weird and wonderful journey into words.

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Yes, you can access The Accidental Dictionary by Paul Anthony Jones in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Languages & Linguistics & Linguistics. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.