Origins of the Specious

Origins of the Specious

Author: Patricia T. O'Conner

Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks

Published: 2010-08-24

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 0812978102

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Do you cringe when a talking head pronounces “niche” as NITCH? Do you get bent out of shape when your teenager begins a sentence with “and”? Do you think British spellings are more “civilised” than the American versions? If you answered yes to any of those questions, you’re myth-informed. In Origins of the Specious, word mavens Patricia T. O’Conner and Stewart Kellerman reveal why some of grammar’s best-known “rules” aren’t—and never were—rules at all. This playfully witty, rigorously researched book sets the record straight about bogus word origins, politically correct fictions, phony français, fake acronyms, and more. Here are some shockers: “They” was once commonly used for both singular and plural, much the way “you” is today. And an eighteenth-century female grammarian, of all people, is largely responsible for the all-purpose “he.” From the Queen’s English to street slang, this eye-opening romp will be the toast of grammarphiles and the salvation of grammarphobes. Take our word for it.


Atheist Delusions

Atheist Delusions

Author: David Bentley Hart

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2009-04-21

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 0300155646

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Religious scholar Hart argues that contemporary antireligious polemics are based not only upon conceptual confusions but upon facile simplifications of history and provides a powerful antidote to the New Atheists' misrepresentations of the Christian past.


The Specious Origins of Liberalism

The Specious Origins of Liberalism

Author: Anthony M. Ludovici

Publisher:

Published: 2019-05-18

Total Pages: 172

ISBN-13: 9781646066674

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First published as a series of articles in The South African Observer in the 1960s, this work provides a fascinating historical-philosophical analysis of the origin of modern liberalism. Starting with an analysis of what liberalism is, this book reviews the ideological origin--among the upper classes of society--of the notion of liberalism, and then moves through its historical development to the present day, where, he concludes, the "worst misapprehension of all is to suppose that all this Liberal misunderstanding of human nature can possibly fail in the end to pervert and corrupt the nation and wipe out all the accumulated treasure in virtue and sanity which has been fostered and stored during former, more rational and more tasteful times." As the author says in the preface: "Among the many remarkable changes witnessed in my lifetime, none has struck me more forcibly than that which has occurred in the relative importance of Religion and Politics. "For, whereas in my childhood and youth religion was still the principal field where fervour and fanaticism reigned, it has been my fate to see political doctrines and ideologies completely supersede it in all adult minds. "In my youth there was certainly hostility and rivalry between Liberals and Conservatives; but however bitter the antagonism, it never went to the length of branding the other side as "indecent", "disreputable" or actually "despicable". Yet to-day Liberalism has attained to this height of arrogance and presumption. "This book is therefore an attempt in this eleventh hour of expiring sanity to expose (he false assumptions and truculent vacuity of these very tenets and principles, and to outline a constructive means of combating them."


Madame Blavatsky's Baboon

Madame Blavatsky's Baboon

Author: Peter Washington

Publisher: Schocken

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780805210248

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Just before the turn of the century, a renegade Russian aristocrat named Madame Blavatsky came to America claiming that man was descended not from the ape but from spiritual beings. Thus began Theosophy, the very first "new age" religion. This thought-provoking and often hilarious study delineates the course of Theosophy and other sects which have come down through the years. Photos.


Dictionary of Word Origins

Dictionary of Word Origins

Author: Jordan Almond

Publisher: Citadel Press

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 9780806517131

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This dictionary gives the intriguing origins of hundreds of everyday words and expressions. Useful for reference and fun just for browsing, Dictionary of Word Origins is also a great way to expand vocabulary and enjoy doing it.


Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins

Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins

Author: William Morris

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 1988-05-17

Total Pages: 516

ISBN-13: 006015862X

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The Morrises, well-known lexicographers, published a dictionary of the same title in 1977, a revision of a three-volume work published between 1962 and 1971. This new revision, which provides histories of interesting words and phrases in the English language, is similar in concept to several books by John Ciardi. Like Ciardi's works, the etymologies and phrase origins are presented in a readable style, making them a joy to browse.


The Story of English in 100 Words

The Story of English in 100 Words

Author: David Crystal

Publisher: Profile Books

Published: 2011-10-13

Total Pages: 283

ISBN-13: 1847654592

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Featuring Latinate and Celtic words, weasel words and nonce-words, ancient words ('loaf') to cutting edge ('twittersphere') and spanning the indispensable words that shape our tongue ('and', 'what') to the more fanciful ('fopdoodle'), Crystal takes us along the winding byways of language via the rude, the obscure and the downright surprising. In this unique new history of the world's most ubiquitous language, linguistics expert David Crystal draws on words that best illustrate the huge variety of sources, influences and events that have helped to shape our vernacular since the first definitively English word was written down in the fifth century ('roe', in case you are wondering).


Spell It Out

Spell It Out

Author: David Crystal

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2013-06-18

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 1250003474

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Presents a history of English spelling through chapters that cover such topics as the introduction of the Roman alphabet, each letter's origins, and the development of long and short vowels.


Founding Grammars

Founding Grammars

Author: Rosemarie Ostler

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2015-05-12

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 1250046122

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"Standard grammar and accurate spelling are widely considered hallmarks of a good education, but their exact definitions are much more contentious -- capable of inciting a full-blown grammar war at the splice of a comma, battles readily visible in the media and online in the comments of blogs and chat rooms. With an accessible and enthusiastic journalistic approach, Ostler considers these grammatical shibboleths, tracing current debates back to America's earliest days, an era when most families owned only two books -- the Bible and a grammar primer. Along the way, she investigates colorful historical characters on both sides of the grammar debate in her efforts to unmask the origins of contemporary speech." --