Accidental Dictionary: The Surprising Twists And Turns Of English Words

Description

How well do you know your words?; Buxom used to mean obedient; A cloud was a rock; Raunchy originally meant dirty; Brimming with hidden histories and tantalising twists, The Accidental Dictionary tells the extraordinary stories behind ordinary words.; Our everyday language is full of surprises; its origins are stranger than you might think. Any word might be knocked and buffeted, subjected to twists and turns, expansions and contractions, happy and unhappy accidents. There are intriguing tales behind even the most familiar terms, and they can say as much about the present as they do the past.; Busking, for instance, originally meant piracy. Grin meant to snarl. A bimbo was a man, nice meant ignorant, glamour was magic and a cupboard was a table ...; Focusing on 100 surprising threads in the evolution of English, The Accidental Dictionary reveals the etymological origins and quirky developments that have led to the meanings we take for granted today. It is a weird and wonderful journey into words.; So, let's revel in its randomness and delight in its diversity - our dictionary is indeed accidental.

Promotion info

* A beautiful book that combines history and etymology to great effect.; * The author is one of the rising stars in his field, well connected and with an impressive track record of original research.; * Paul's Twitter account @HaggardHawks has 18.3k followers.; * Celebrity supporters include Marian Keyes, Joanne Harris, Richard Osman, Greg Jenner, Ian McMillan, Danny Baker, Susie Dent, Simon Mayo, Michael Rosen, Rebecca Front and Cerys Matthews.; * Will appeal to readers of The Etymologicon by Mark Forsyth.; * Paul regularly appears in the Telegraph, Buzzfeed and Huffington Post.

Author description

Paul Anthony Jones is a writer, etymologist and language blogger. He is the author of several books on trivia and language, including the widely acclaimed Word Drops: A Sprinkling of Linguistic Curiosities (2015), The British Isles: A Trivia Gazetteer (2012), Haggard Hawks & Paltry Poltroons (2013) and its sequel, Jedburgh Justice & Kentish Fire (2014). He has contributed to the Independent, the Guardian, the Huffington Post, BuzzFeed, Mental Floss and BBC Radio 4's The World at One, and he also runs @HaggardHawks, the hugely popular language-based Twitter account and YouTube channel. A piano teacher and musician, he lives in South Tyneside.

Table of contents

CONTENTS; Introduction ix; 1. Affiliate... 3; 2. Aficionado... 5; 3. Album...8; 4. Alcohol... 10; 5. Algebra... 12; 6. Ambidextrous... 14; 7. Archipelago... 15; 8. Bank... 18; 9. Bimbo... 20; 10. Blockbuster... 22; 11. Brothel...24; 12. Bumph... 26; 13. Busking... 29; 14. Butler... 31; 15. Buxom... 34; 16. Cheap... 36; 17. Cloud... 38; 18. Clue...40; 19. Clumsy... 43; 20. Cubicle... 45; 21. Cupboard...47; 22. To Curry Favour...49; 23. Deer... 52; 24. Defecation... 54; 25. Dismantle... 56; 26. Doom... 58; 27. Drench... 61; 28. Dump... 63; 29. Eager... 65; 30. Explode... 67; 31. Exquisite... 69; 32. Fathom... 71; 33. Fetish... 73; 34. Fiasco... 76; 35. Finance... 78; 36. Flirt... 81; 37. Foyer...84; 38. G-string... 86; 39. Garbage... 89; 40. Garble... 91; 41. Girl... 93; 42. Glamour... 95; 43. Grin... 98; 44. Hallucinate... 101; 45. Handicap... 103; 46. Hanky-panky... 105; 47. Hat-trick... 108; 48. Heartache... 111; 49. Heartburn...113; 50. Hijinks...115; 51. Hussy...118; 52. Inmate...121; 53. The letter J... 124; 54. Jargon... 126; 55. Jiffy... 129; 56. Livid...131; 57. Ludicrous...133; 58. Man...135; 59. Manage... 137; 60. Meerkat... 140; 61. Moment... 142; 62. Myriad... 145; 63. Nasty... 147; 64. Naughty... 150; 65. Nephew...153; 66. Nice...155; 67. Noon... 158; 68. Oaf... 160; 69. Obnoxious... 163; 70. Obsess... 165; 71. Ostracism... 167; 72. Palaver... 170; 73. Passenger... 172; 74. Pedagogue... 175; 75. Pencil... 177; 76. Penguin... 179; 77. Peripatetic... 182; 78. Pink... 184; 79. Potpourri... 186; 80. Prestigious... 189; 81. Punk... 191; 82. Queen... 194; 83. Ragamuffin... 196; 84. Raunchy... 199; 85. Refrigerator... 201; 86. Sad... 203; 87. Secretary... 206; 88. Shampoo... 209; 89. Skulduggery...211; 90. Slogan... 213; 91. Snob... 216; 92. Sophisticated... 219; 93. Success... 221; 94. Tiddlywink... 223; 95. Tit for Tat... 226; 96. Treadmill... 228; 97. Unhappy... 231; 98. Venom... 233; 99. Volatile... 235; 100. Zombie... 237; Bibliography 241; Acknowledgements 243