Dog Days and Dandelions
A Lively Guide to the Animal Meanings Behind Everyday Words
- 209 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
From apian (like a bee) to zodiac (little-animals circle), a word book that spots the animal origins of words and names.
There are mice in your muscles, and blackbirds in your merlot. Behind adulation is a dog's wagging tail. Peculiar houses a herd of cattle. Grubby is crawling with bugs. Wordhound Martha Barnette collects more than 300 common (and a few not-so-common) words that have surprising animal roots. Tracing word origins back to ancient Greek and Latin as well as to European roots and American slang, the entries offer a guided tour through literature, science, folklore, politics, and more—with a wilderness of animal meanings at every turn.
For fledgling word sleuths as well as those who fawn over etymologies, this is a delightful smorgasbord for writers, students, and word lovers.
"In this zoological tour of the beastly backgrounds behind common phrases such as swan song and rare words such as snollygoster , Barnette sheds new light on both everyday and esoteric language . . . Barnette's etymological sleuthing, itself a word of animal derivation, is as educational as it is engrossing." — Booklist
"Arranged alphabetically, the 300-plus entries make for good browsing, and readers with a penchant for odd and underused words, such as myrmidon (an unprincipled lackey) and musteline (resembling a weasel) will find them aplenty here." — Publishers Weekly
Frequently asked questions
- Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
- Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright Notice
- Contents
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Introduction
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- X
- Y
- Z
- Acknowledgments
- Selected Bibliography
- Also by Martha Barnette
- Copyright