The Merriam Webster New Book of Word Histories: Fascinating Stories about our Living, Growing Language

by Merriam-Webster

"A gold mine of word histories for reference or browsing. Covers the origins of 1,500 words. Over 600 engagingly written articles. Explore the stories behind our vocabulary."

Genres: Reference, Language, Nonfiction, History, Writing, Dictionaries, Education

544 pages, Paperback

First published March 29, 1990

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I began reading this book a week ago, and it took me awhile to get through the six hundred entries in the books of odd and interesting word histories. I very much enjoyed reading this book, and I may lend it to my son when I next see him.

After a Preface, an Introduction, a list of Pronunciation Symbols, and a List of Abbreviations, we get to the meat of the book, arranged from A to Z. We learn (among many other things), that octothorpe is the actual name for the pound symbol / hashtag symbol, that “apron” was at one time “a napron” instead of what it is now, “an apron”, that the word “cretin” means “Christian”; it was used to indicate that those who were mentally deficient were still processed of Christian souls, that “silhouette” came from a French financier of that name who was reputed to be so cheap that he would put outlines instead of paintings on his walls, that “school” as in “institute or building of learning” and “school” as in “a school of fish” are unrelated to each other, that “tradition” and “treason” come from the same root word, which meant “a turning over”, and “zeugma”, a rhetorical device by which two elements are conjoined to bizarre effect (as in “She blew my nose and then she blew my mind”).

I am very happy to have this book in my library, and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in a slightly elderly (published 1991) book about the English language.

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book, and I own it. It is not something you just read straight through although you could do so. But as you read each entry, it recommends other entries that contain even more interesting information and history of words. (FYI, the word "girl" originally referred to a young person, male or female. Now it only refers to a young female.)

If you liked this book you might also like "The Secret Life of Words: English Words and Their Origins," series of Great Courses lectures by Professor Anne Curzan.

I also liked "Words on the Move: Why English Won't—and Can't—Sit Still" by John McWhorter. (He is a professor but he doesn't usually use his title in the context of authoring books.)

[fayre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Baby, I've been running by freakydeakymoonmagic

Voldemort x Harry

Soulmates - first words
After 6th year
Harry goes on the run to give them time to negotiate
Voldemort buys him a house - Potter Manor
Oral fixation
Pet names - darling boy, sweet boy

[Dylan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like to slip away each night with its entries drifting like ethereal taffy... to and fro between the realm of the pillow and the (enter other such nonsense).

[Tinquerbelle]

Reference only.