An encyclopedia of linguistic biographies: the witty, illustrated stories of the Earl of Sandwich, Charles Boycott, and other historical figures better known as words than people. Eponymous, "adj. "Giving one's name to a person, place, or thing. Anonymous, "adj. "Anonymous. Anonyponymous, "adj. "Anonymous and eponymous. The Earl of Sandwich, ...
Master the medical terminology you'll need for success in the health care with this unique, objective-based approach! Focused entirely on medical terminology and vocabulary, this trusted text helps you understand complex medical terms with a proven step-by-step strategy, building each word from its foundation. With a logical, body-systems ...
The producer and co-host of the national radio talk show "Beyond Reason" delivers a fun, fascinating, and informative collection of everyday expressions and their colorful origins. Illustrations.
"Exploring Medical Language" provides students in health care educational programs with the basic knowledge of medical language they need to communicate clearly and understand communication from other health care team members. LaFleur's strength has always been its clear presentation of not only medical terms built from word parts, but also those ...
This witty and informative book debunks myths that bamboozle word-loving fansand offers a delightful primer on the eccentricities of the English language.288 pp.
Whether it's like "a bump on a log" or "a bat out of hell, " these expressions have been around forever. Dr. Funk explains over 400 droll, colorful, and sometimes pungent expressions of everyday speech. Derived from classical sources, historic events, famous literature, frontier humor, and the frailties of humankind, each of these sayings have an ...
A survey of the quirks and quandaries of the English language, this work focuses on its strange and wonderful grammar. Delving into provocative topics and more, "Our Magnificent Bastard Language" distills hundreds of years of fascinating lore into one lively history.
Revised by Lawrence Bush, this is Rosten's classic celebration and exploration of the Yiddish language--nothing less than a "mitzvah" (a "good work", a virtuous, kind, considerate, ethical deed).
Words Their Way companion volumes, 2e We believe that the hands-on word sorting approach to word study is invaluable to you and your students. These stage-specific companion volumes to Words Their Way: Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary, and Spelling Instruction provide a complete curriculum of reproducible sorts and detailed directions for the ...
"A grand compendium of fascinating and little-known stories behind words and expressions we use every day, buttressed by the fine scholarship one would expect of these noted wordsmiths: It hasn't a dull page."
With sharp wit, sheer delight, and a keen eye, Shea shares his year inside the "Oxford English Dictionary," delivering a hair-pulling, eye-crossing account of reading every word, and revealing the most obscure, hilarious, and wonderful gems he discovers along the way.
Why is there such a striking difference between English spelling and English pronunciation? How did our relatively simple grammar rules develop? What are the origins of regional dialect, literary language, and everyday speech, and what do they have to do with you? Based on the enormous success of his video and lecture series and the widespread ...
Did you know that both mammal and matter derive from baby talk? Have you noticed how wince makes you wince? Ever wonder why so many h-words have to do with breath? Roy Blount Jr. certainly has, and after forty years of making a living using words in every medium, print or electronic, except greeting cards, he still can't get over his ABCs. In ...
In Wilfred Funk's cultural history on the origins of words, the noted lexicographer arranges words according to themes, including politics, religion, history, cooking, scientific names, proper names, and sports.
An introduction to the study of semantics, which examines human interaction through communication, toward a more sophisticated understanding of the role of language in life, the complex functions language performs and the way language, sometimes without knowing, shapes our thinking.
Ireland was one of the earliest countries to evolve a system of hereditary surnames. More than 4,000 Gaelic, Norman and Anglo-Irish surnames are listed in this book, giving a wealth of information on the background and location of Irish families. Edward MacLysaght was a leading authority on Irish names and family history. He served as Chief Herald ...
Do you "know" that posh comes from an acronym meaning "port out, starboard home"? That "the whole nine yards" comes from (pick one) the length of a WWII gunner's belt; the amount of fabric needed to make a kilt; a sarcastic football expression? That Chicago is called "The Windy City" because of the bloviating habits of its politicians, and not the ...
This is an updated encyclopedia that explores the origins of thousands of words and phrases.The most comprehensive single-volume reference of its kind, "The Facts On File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, Fourth Edition" has been completely updated and expanded and now contains definitions and origins of more than 15,000 words and ...
English has hundreds of everyday words that originated or acquired their meanings in unusual ways. Dictionaries don't have the space to tell all the mysteries but Dr. Funk, with humor and insight, tells the strange and intriguing stories of hundreds of words and how they came to be a part of the language.
This text examines the origins and development of the English language. 2000 years ago, English was confined to a handful of savage tribes on the shores of north-west Europe. Today, in one form or another, it is spoken by a billion people around the world, of whom 350 million use it as their mother tongue. More widely scattered, written and spoken ...
When ideas fail, words come in handy. But sometimes you can't find the right word, and what you want to say can't be found in the dictionary. English has its limitations, but the expression you're searching for may exist in another language. "In Other Words "is a unique collection of well-known and absolutely obscure "untranslatables"--linguistic ...
Communication is essential to our lives, but how often do we stop to think about where the words we use have come from? Have you ever thought about which words in English have been borrowed from Arabic, French or Dutch? Try admiral, landscape and marmalade just for starters. The Secret Life of Words is a wide-ranging account not only of the ...
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