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Author
Pub. Date
©2020
Description
The English language is made up of words from different places, events, and periods of time. Each of those words has an exciting story to tell us about where, when, how, and why they came about. Once Upon a Word is packed with easy-to-understand definitions and awesome word-origin stories. Here, you can understand the history and meaning of English words, improve your vocabulary and spelling, and learn to play with language.
Author
Formats
Description
"The creation of the Oxford English Dictionary began in 1857, took seventy years to complete, drew from tens of thousands of brilliant minds, and organized the sprawling language into 414,825 precise definitions. But hidden within the rituals of its creation is a fascinating and mysterious story - a story of two remarkable men whose strange twenty-year relationship lies at the core of this historic undertaking." "Professor James Murray, an astonishingly...
Author
Pub. Date
1995
Description
1,000 food-related terms and expressions, ranging from old chestnut to red herring to fruitcake to couch potato. What has "ham" to do with overacting? Why does "nut" stand for a man's head and his gonads? Why do we say "Holy mackerel?" Quotations abound, from 4000 B.C. to the present. This book is addressed to foodies and word lovers.