Word Histories and Mysteries
Editor/Author:Publication Year: 2004
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
ISBN: 978-0-618-45450-1
Category: language
Image Count: 13
Book Status: Available
Provides a panoramic view of the unique richness of English, uncovering the origins of five hundred everyday words whose surprising and often amusing stories offer insights into the history of humankind.
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The English language is full of words borrowed from a plethora of languages, from Italian to Russian, from Spanish to Chinese. They are easy to recognize, and our usage of those words is not often far from their usage in their original languages. However, some words have no discernible origin-that is, it is difficult to tell from what language they were derived. Sometimes it is difficult to determine how the current usage of a word evolved from its original meaning. The editors of Word Histories and Mysteries: From Abracadabra to Zeus have attempted to trace the history-the etymology-of a selection of common and not-so-common words from modern English.The introduction provides a brief overview of the development of English as it is currently used, starting from its prehistoric ancestors to the Middle English period, as well as a brief section on languages that have played a role in that development, such as Latin, Italian, and Arabic). The brevity of the introduction is lamentable, as a slightly more comprehensive overview of the history of the English language would have given the average reader more of a background and a context for how the English language has been influenced and has evolved. The bulk of the work is an alphabetic listing of words with brief entries detailing their origin (known or alleged), spellings (original, archaic, and current), and the evolution of their usage and meaning. The entries are brief, usually no more than 250-300 words. Some entries provide illustrations or graphics related to the entry, like a picture of a prospector panning for gold for the term pan out. Despite the succinctness of the entries, the editors manage to convey a surprisingly thorough and easy-to-follow history for each of the words they have selected, although a few entries, while humorous, are somewhat less linear and more convoluted in their description of a word's evolution.The audience for this text is, however, unclear. Some entries seem to assume that the reader has some familiarity with formal linguistics; some do not. Some entries use layperson's terms to explain technical aspects of linguistics, such as changes in spellings; others use linguistic jargon that may make little sense to the average reader. Nevertheless, it is an entertaining and informative work, ideal for a public or undergraduate library.
Megan W. Lowe
Reference/Instruction Librarian, University Library, Univ. of Louisiana at Monroe
