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We like to recount that goodbye started out as "god be with you," that whiskey comes from the Gaelic for "water of life," or that avocado originated as the Aztec word for "testicle." But there are many words with origins unknown, disputed, or so buried in old journals that they may as well be lost to the general public. In
Origin Uncertain: Unraveling the Mysteries of Etymology, eminent etymologist Anatoly Liberman draws on his professional expertise and etymological database to tell the stories of less understood words such as nerd, fake, ain't, hitchhike, trash, curmudgeon, and quiz, as well as puzzling idioms like kick the bucket and pay through the nose. By casting a net so broadly, the book addresses language history, language usage (including grammar), history (both ancient and modern), religion, superstitions, and material culture.
List of contents
- INTRODUCTION: THE WAYS OF WORDS AND WORD HUNTERS
- CHAPTER 1: WORDS WHOSE ORIGIN HAS BOTHERED YOU FOR YEARS
- CHAPTER 2: WORDS BIZARRE, MISBEGOTTEN, AND BORN BY MISTAKE
- CHAPTER 3: IT TAKES ALL SORTS TO MAKE THE WORLD GO ROUND
- CHAPTER 4: CRABBED AGE LOOKS BACK AT YOUTH AND FEELS AMUSED
- CHAPTER 5: MARITAL BLISS AND A FEW DIVERSIONS
- CHAPTER 6: ANATOMY AND THE ART OF CONSUMPTION
- CHAPTER 7: IN THE AIR, ON THE GROUND, AND IN THE SEA
- CHAPTER 8: MULTIFAROUS DEVILRY
- CHAPTER 9: OUR HABITAT AND DISPOSABLE STUFF
- CHAPTER 10: TOOLS, IMPLEMENTS, AND PROFESSIONS
- CHAPTER 11: HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY
- CHAPTER 12: SUSPICIOUS USAGE AND TROUBLESOME PHONETICS
- CHAPTER 13: A FEW IDIOMS
- CHAPTER 14: SOME OF OUR GREATS
About the author
Anatoly Liberman is Professor in the Department of German, Nordic, Slavic & Dutch at the University of Minnesota. He is a linguist, medievalist, etymologist, and poet who has published widely on word origins and etymology, including Word Origins . . . And How We Know Them (OUP 2005). He has written the "Oxford Etymologist" blog series for OUP since 2006.
Additional text
A playful foray into the elusive origins of words... Logophiles will be delighted.
