The Secret Lives of WordsWe are often unaware of the unique and intriguing stories of the words we love. Thousands of our words have been so twisted, tangled, misused, and muddled over the centuries that their original meaning has been obscured. You'll be surprised to learn that table napkins were once made of and referred to as asbestos, that atom means uncuttable, that a cloud was once a hill, and that a companion is one who eats bread with you. Compiled over the years in his handwritten notebooks, acclaimed prose stylist Paul West offers us an album of treasures. The Secret Lives of Words is an "Antiques Road Show" of language, in which West chronicles the centuries-long travels of words across continents and through cultures. For word enthusiasts, speakers, writers, thinkers, and all readers, this volume recounting the intimate ancestry of language will enrich our understanding of and appreciation for the words we use every day. |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
actually akin American ancient Anglo-Saxon Arabic ball became become blurb bread British called Cockney rhyming slang coined comes course cricket denote deriving dialect Diane Ackerman dictionaries diminutive doubt Dutch etymology famous fiction gluons Greek haps heard human idea idiom Indo-European indri invented Italian Janet language late Latin LIVES OF WORDS look meaning meant metaphor Middle English military mind modern Nazi never nineteenth century noun novel nowadays oddly Old English Old French Old Norse once origin PAUL WEST perhaps person phrase piropo plural poet prehistoric Germanic pudding quarks reference Rhesus rhyming Romans SCREW THE POOCH SCUZZ SECRET LIVES seems sense seventeenth century sixteenth century slang someone sometimes sound speech spin sure Syphilis teenth century term thing thought tion toast trying verb verbal Vulgar Latin whereas woman wonder word's write