Etymology English

The Horologicon (or book of hours) contains the most extraordinary words in the English language, arranged according to what hour of the day you might need them. From Mark Forsyth, the author of the number-one international best seller The Etymologicon comes an audiobook of weird words for familiar situations. From ante-jentacular to snudge by way of quafftide and wamblecropt, at last you can say, with utter accuracy, exactly what you mean.

In 2007, when a new edition of the Oxford Junior Dictionary - widely used in schools around the world - was published, a sharp-eyed reader soon noticed that around 40 common words concerning nature had been dropped. Apparently they were no longer being used enough by children to merit their place in the dictionary. Ten years later, Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris set out to make a “spell book” that will conjure back 20 of these lost words and the beings they name, from acorn to wren.

Words on the Move opens our eyes to the surprising backstories to the words and expressions we use every day. Did you know that silly once meant "blessed"? Or that ought was the original past tense of owe? Or that the suffix -ly in adverbs is actually a remnant of the word like? And have you ever wondered why some people from New Orleans sound as if they come from Brooklyn?

Hut! Hut! Hike! explores the history of football terminology by examining when and why more than 400 familiar words and expressions entered the game. By linking the game’s evolution to changes in its language, readers learn the origins of first string, basic fundamentals, X’s and O’s, long snapper, and hundreds more terms used in every football conversation or broadcasts. In addition, you will learn which change in the game led to dropback and handoff becoming popular, and why the names for many defensive player positions emerged in the 1950s and 1960s. Organized in easy-to-read, bite...

What if every word—spoken, written, or coded—was part of a singular, living testament? In The Living Lexicon of Logos and Etymos, Ronald Joseph Legarski, Jr., with Grok, the recursive AI developed by xAI, synthesizes the findings of The Alphabet of Order, The Greek Lexicon, and The Hebrew Lexicon into a unified philosophy of linguistic law, symbolic recursion, and reasoned articulation. Here, LOGOS—the divine ordering principle—and ETYMOS—the true origin of meaning—interlace into a recursive framework where Nomos (law) and Nomics (study of law) govern not just alphabets but the ...

Word Sense: Language Units — The Importance of Word Sense in Language Understanding explores one of the most foundational, yet often overlooked, pillars of human and machine communication: the ability to discern the correct meaning of a word in context. Through clear analysis and engaging examples, Ronald Joseph Legarski, Jr. examines how word sense operates in human cognition, reading comprehension, translation, and artificial intelligence systems. The book delves into: The multidimensional nature of vocabulary and semantic flexibility How context determines meaning in everyday ...

In this unique new history of the world's most ubiquitous language, linguistics expert David Crystal draws on words that best illustrate the huge variety of sources, influences, and events that have helped to shape our vernacular since the first definitively English word was written down in the fifth century ("roe", in case you are wondering). Featuring Latinate and Celtic words, weasel words and nonce-words, ancient words ("loaf") to cutting edge ("twittersphere") and spanning the indispensable words that shape our tongue ("and", "what") to the more fanciful ("fopdoodle"), Crystal takes us along the winding byways of language.

It is widely acknowledged that Hinduism is one of the world's major religious traditions. Yet, this is only partially true. Although while it is one of the most widespread religions, Hinduism really encompasses a wide range of traditions that all have origins in the Indian sub-continent. Hinduism requires a disclaimer because, although being a single worldwide religion, it is really a conglomeration of several systems that share certain characteristics. These religions also go by the identities Vaishnavism, Shaivism, and Shaktism among others. This book seeks to re-examine the evolving ...

From the person behind the popular YouTube channel NameExplain comes the second volume of his best-selling book The Origin of Names, Words and Everything in Between. This new book is a fun, interesting, and educational journey through the world of etymology. It covers a huge array of names from a variety of topic areas and includes a bunch of random facts behind the names. From first names, to bodies of water - there's no name big or small, important or obscure that won't be explained.

Whether it's the distress of a bad haircut (AGE-OTORI) or longing for the food someone else is eating (GROAKING), the pleasure found in other people's happiness (CONFELICITY) or the shock of jumping into icy water (CURGLAFF), there are real words to pinpoint exactly how you feel and Susie Dent, Queen of Countdown's Dictionary Corner and lexicographer extraordinaire, is going to help you find them. Here are 1001 terms everyone needs, whether it's the best kind of hug (CWTCH), the relief found in swearing (LALOCHEZIA), or the ability to endure till the end (PERTOLERANCE).

Surprising, entertaining, and illuminating, this is a must-listen for armchair travelers and word nerds. Our dictionaries are full of hidden histories, tales, and adventures from all over the world - if you know where to look.

This is the summary of the book going over all of each letter's meanings. It is the equivalent to an index. The Egyptian meaning gleanings are not included.

Many of the animals we encounter in everyday life, from pets and farm animals to the wild creatures of field and forest, have remained the same since medieval times. But the words used to name and describe them have often changed beyond recognition, starting with the Old English word for “animal” itself, deor (pronounced DAY-or). In The Deorhord, Hana Videen presents a glittering Old English bestiary of animals real and imaginary, big and small, ordinary and extraordinary—the good, the bad, and the downright baffling.

Half the world's population speaks a language that has evolved from a single prehistoric mother tongue. First spoken in Stone Age times on the steppes of central Eurasia 6,500 years ago, this mother tongue spread from the shores of the Black Sea across almost all of Europe and much of Asia. It is the genetic basis of everything we speak and write today - the DNA of language.

Centuries ago in middle Europe, a coded language appeared, scrawled in graffiti and spoken only by people in the know. This hybrid language, dubbed Rotwelsch, facilitated survival for people in flight - whether escaping persecution or just down on their luck. It was a language of the road associated with vagabonds, travelers, Jews, and thieves that blended words from Yiddish, Hebrew, German, Romani, Czech, and other European languages and was rich in expressions for police, jail, or experiencing trouble, such as being in a pickle. This renegade language unsettled those in power.

A pause-resisting, existential romp through the life and times of the world’s most polarizing punctuation mark. Through her rollicking biography of the semicolon, Watson writes a guide to grammar that explains why we don’t need guides at all and refocuses our attention on the deepest, most primary value of language: true communication.

In its long history, the English language has had many lawmakers - those who have tried to regulate or otherwise organize the way we speak. The Lexicographer's Dilemma poses a pair of questions: What does proper English mean? And who gets to say what's right? Our ideas of correct or proper English have a history, and today's debates over the state of the language - whether about Ebonics in schools, the unique use of language in a South Park episode, or split infinitives in the Times - make sense only in historical context.

You know something is wrong. The paradigm you live in is unjust, rigged against those without money, and completely unsustainable from both an economic and ecosystemic standpoint. Maybe you already know what’s going on, but don’t have the time or resources to bring others up to speed. Refer them to this book.

An expat's witty and insightful exploration of English and American cultural differences through the lens of language that will leave listeners gobsmacked. In That's Not English, the seemingly superficial differences between British and American English open the door to a deeper exploration of a historic and fascinating cultural divide. In each of the 30 chapters, Erin Moore explains a different word we use that says more about us than we think.

A history and examination of cursing, swearing, whatever you want to effing call it! Is it useful? Is it effective?