Crystal, David, 1941-
New York : Picador, 2013, c2011.
Added to CLICnet on 12/19/2015
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Notes:
- Includes index.
- 1. Roe : the first word (5th century) — 2. Lea : naming places (8th century) — 3. And : an early abbreviation (8th century) — 4. Loaf : an unexpected origin (9th century) — 5. Out : changing grammar (9th century) — 6. Street : a Latin loan (9th century) — 7. Mead : a window into history (9th century) — 8. Merry : a dialect survivor (9th century) — 9. Riddle : playing with language (10th century) : 10. What — an early exclamation (10th century) — 11. Bone-house : a word-painting (10th century) — 12. Brock : a Celtic arrival (10th century) — 13. English : the language named (10th century) — 14. Bridegroom : a popular etymology (11th century) — 15. Arse : an impolite word (11th century) — 16. Swain : a poetic expression (12th century) — 17. Pork : an elegant word (13th century) — 18. Chattels : a legal word (13th century) — 19. Dame : a form of address (13th century) — 20. Skirt : a word doublet (13th century) — 21. Jail : competing words (13th century) — 22. Take away : a phrasal verb (13th century) — 23. Cuckoo : a sound-symbolic word (13th century) — 24. Cunt : a taboo word (13th century) — 25. Wicked : a radical alteration (13th century) — 26. Wee : a Scottish contribution (14th century) — 27. Grammar : a surprising link (14th century) — 28. Valentine : first name into word (14th century) — 29. Egg : a dialect choice (14th century) — 30. Royal : word triplets (14th century) — 31. Money : a productive idiom (14th century) — 32. Music : a spelling in evolution (14th century) — 33. Taffeta : an early trade word (14th century) — 34. Information(s) : (un)countable nouns (14th century) — 35. Gaggle : a collective noun (15th century) — 36. Doable : a mixing of languages (15th century) — 37. Matrix : a word from Tyndale (16th century) — 38. Alphabet : talking about writing (16th century) — 39. Potato : a European import (16th century) — 40. Debt : a spelling reform (16th century) — 41. Ink-horn : a classical flood (16th century) — 42. Dialect : regional variation (16th century)
- The world’s foremost expert on the English language takes us on an entertaining and eye-opening tour of the history of our vernacular through the ages.
Subjects:
- English language — Etymology.
- English language — Foreign elements.
- English language — Foreign words and phrases.
- English language — Etymology. fast (OCoLC)fst00911149
- English language — Foreign elements. fast (OCoLC)fst00911161
- English language — Foreign words and phrases. fast (OCoLC)fst00911178
Requested by Kurpiers, R.