Wilton David
Wilton David - Word Myths Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends - Hardcover
Wilton David - Word Myths Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends - Hardcover
Books
Regular price
$24.08 USD
Regular price
Sale price
$24.08 USD
Unit price
per
Shipping calculated at checkout.
Couldn't load pickup availability
Binding: Hardcover
Description: 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 breeze off the lake? If so you need this book. David Wilton debunks the most persistently wrong word histories and gives to the best of our actual knowledge the real stories behind these perennially mis - etymologized words. In addition he explains why these wrong stories are created disseminated and persist even after being corrected time and time again. What makes us cling to these stories when the truth behind these words and phrases is available for the most part at any library or on the Internet? Arranged by chapters this book avoids a dry A - Z format. Chapters separate misetymologies by kind including The Perils of Political Correctness (picnics have nothing to do with lynchings) Posh Phat Pommies (the problems of bacronyming - - the desire to make every word into an acronym) and Canoe (which stands for the Conspiracy to Attribute Nautical Origins to Everything). Word Myths corrects long - held and far - flung examples of wrong etymologies without taking the fun out of etymology itself. It's the best of both worlds: not only do you learn the many wrong stories behind these words you also learn why and how they are created - - and what the real story is.
Title: Word Myths Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends
Author(s): Wilton David, Ivan Brunetti
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc
Barcode: 9780195172843
Pages: 234 Pages, 8 Cartoons
Publication Date: 12/2/2004
Category: Dialect, Slang & Jargon
Description: 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 breeze off the lake? If so you need this book. David Wilton debunks the most persistently wrong word histories and gives to the best of our actual knowledge the real stories behind these perennially mis - etymologized words. In addition he explains why these wrong stories are created disseminated and persist even after being corrected time and time again. What makes us cling to these stories when the truth behind these words and phrases is available for the most part at any library or on the Internet? Arranged by chapters this book avoids a dry A - Z format. Chapters separate misetymologies by kind including The Perils of Political Correctness (picnics have nothing to do with lynchings) Posh Phat Pommies (the problems of bacronyming - - the desire to make every word into an acronym) and Canoe (which stands for the Conspiracy to Attribute Nautical Origins to Everything). Word Myths corrects long - held and far - flung examples of wrong etymologies without taking the fun out of etymology itself. It's the best of both worlds: not only do you learn the many wrong stories behind these words you also learn why and how they are created - - and what the real story is.
Title: Word Myths Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends
Author(s): Wilton David, Ivan Brunetti
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc
Barcode: 9780195172843
Pages: 234 Pages, 8 Cartoons
Publication Date: 12/2/2004
Category: Dialect, Slang & Jargon
