What led to the expression "let the cat out of the bag"? Why do we call blondes "towheads"? For Pete's sake, what is a fangle? In this humorous and engaging collection of word origins and histories, the famed host of the Chrysti the Wordsmith series (heard on Yellowstone Public Radio, Montana Public Radio, Montana State University's KGLT-FM, and Armed Forces Radio and Television Service) shares the stories behind the words. This irresistible medley is a must for word lovers everywhere.
In this companion edition to her popular Verbivore's Feast, Chrysti the Wordsmith, host of the much-loved radio show of the same name, once again examines the evolution and history of the English language, using the odd expressions and cliches that pepper it. Exploring words such as lollygag and quack, and phrases ranging from break a leg to shake a stick and from Adam's apple to trip the light fantastic, Chrysti the Wordsmith uncovers the fascinating stories about their origins.
In this rollicking romp through the bountiful world of words (Minneapolis Star), the bestselling author of Crazy English and More Anguished English takes readers on a logoleptic thrill ride through the beauties and perplexities of the language, spiking the text with irresistible mind scramblers.
For all those with lex on the brain, Inkhorn’s Erotonomicon presents a unique lexicographical survey of love and lust in all its dimensions: sociological, somatological, sexological and sexosophical.Shunning the bland and the boring, eschewing common slang and swearwords, Inkhorn’s Erotonomicon – The Book of Sex Words – is the first dictionary to gather together the obscure and the obsolete, the otiose and the ostentatious, the outlandish and the outrageous, showcasing words you would never otherwise have known existed for things you would never have believed possible. Inkhorn – your intrepid word-hunter – brings you a dictionary which combines erudition with entertainment, providing concise and often quirky definitions for 5000 words and phrases across such diverse subject areas as Gendermaps & Gendermachy; Fornication & Fecundation; Organs & Orifices; Erotolepsis & Erotopraxis; Prostitution & Pornography; Matrimony & Matrimonotony; and Sexotica & Sexoterica. While even the largest unabridged dictionaries contain only a smattering of the more advanced and inventive erotic vocabulary, the entries in the Erotonomicon have been selected from a corpus of 25,000 words assembled from over 300 reference works and monographs in both print and electronic media. All original words have been comprehensively catalogued and their definitions cross-checked and verified wherever possible. No entries have been coined by the compiler.Welcome to Inkhorn’s Erotonomicon – quite simply the final word in dirty words!
A smorgasbord of surprising, obscure, and exotic words In this delightful encore to the national bestseller A Word A Day, Anu Garg, the founder of the wildly popular A Word A Day Web site (wordsmith.org), presents an all-new collection of unusual, intriguing words and real-life anecdotes that will thrill writers, scholars, and word buffs everywhere. Another Word A Day celebrates the English language in all its quirkiness, grandeur, and fun, and features new chapters ranging from "Words Formed Erroneously" and "Red-Herring Words" to "Kangaroo Words," "Discover the Theme," and "What Does That Company Name Mean?" In them, you'll find a treasure trove of curious and compelling words, including agelast, dragoman, mittimus, nyctalopia, quacksalver, scission, tattersall, and zugzwang. Each entry includes a concise definition, etymology, and usage example, interspersed with illuminating quotations. Praise for a word a day "Anu Garg's many readers await their A Word A Day rations hungrily. Now at last here's a feast for them and other verbivores. Eat up!" --Barbara Wallraff, Senior Editor at The Atlantic Monthly and author of Word Court "AWADies will be familiar with Anu Garg's refreshing approach to words: words are fun and they have fascinating histories." --John Simpson, Chief Editor, Oxford English Dictionary
In what other language, asks Lederer, do people drive on a parkway and park in a driveway, and your nose can run and your feet can smell? In CRAZY ENGLISH, Lederer frolics through the logic-boggling byways of our language, discovering the names for phobias you didn't know you could have, the longest words in our dictionaries, and the shortest sentence containing every letter in the alphabet. You'll take a bird's-eye view of our beastly language, feast on a banquet of mushrooming food metaphors, and meet the self-reflecting Doctor Rotcod, destined to speak only in palindromes.
Learn fascinating facts about the history, culture, leaders, and heroes of our great nation in this comprehensive volume of U.S. trivia. This land is your land—so you should know a thing or two about it. American Trivia is chock full of fascinating facts, historical riddles, and puzzling quizzes about the people, places, and events that make this nation great. Divided into sections on national origins, presidents, historical figures, and more, this book offers a crash course in essential Americana. In these pages, you will learn the origin of the national anthem, stories about national monuments such as the Liberty Bell and Statue of Liberty, fascinating information about the country’s heroes and inventors, and more. As co-authors Richard Lederer and Caroline McCullagh demonstrate, American trivia is anything but trivial.
“An outstanding contribution to the field of food language and lore and an accessible reference book for professional and amateur foodies alike.” —Susannah Seton, author of Simple Pleasures of the Kitchen Eat Your Words is a gloriously gluttonous glossary of all things grub and gastronomy: It’s a true treat for anyone who loves language as much as they love food. With witty and fun definitions of everything from aeroponics to zoosaprophagy, this compilation offers definitions of six thousand unusual and unfamiliar terms across twenty-one fact-packed courses. For bon viveurs and verbivores alike: Are you a gourmet who knows the difference between Maldon and Morton salt? Maybe you’re an expert on the properties of heat in cooking. Or you’re a cocktail connoisseur with a taste for tequila. Eat Your Words is a surprising treat for anyone who loves learning about food and cooking. A delight for word nerds: For Scrabble stars and anyone who excels at Words with Friends, Eat Your Words is a clever guide to little-known culinary terms that will give you that special edge. In Eat Your Words, you’ll find terms about: A cornucopia of culinary treats from around the world The cultivation, selling, and serving of every food you can imagine The appetites of diners and their dinners across all species This new dictionary is the fun reference book you didn’t know you wanted. Fans of Tequila Mockingbird and On Food and Cooking will enjoy this fascinating journey into the language of food and eating. “Now I can impress my food-snob friends with more than my ratatouille and learn some great food-related Scrabble words as well.” —Nina Lesowitz, author of The Party Girl Cookbook
"Anu Garg's many readers await their A Word A Day rations hungrily. Now at last here's a feast for them and other verbivores. Eat up!" -Barbara Wallraff Senior Editor at The Atlantic Monthly and author of Word Court Praise for A Word a Day "AWADies will be familiar with Anu Garg's refreshing approach to words: words are fun and they have fascinating histories. The people who use them have curious stories to tell too, and this collection incorporates some of the correspondence received by the editors at the AWAD site, from advice on how to outsmart your opponent in a duel (or even a truel) to a cluster of your favorite mondegreens." -John Simpson, Chief Editor, Oxford English Dictionary "A banquet of words! Feast and be nourished!" -Richard Lederer, author of The Miracle of Language Written by the founder of the wildly popular A Word A Day Web site (www.wordsmith.org), this collection of unusual, obscure, and exotic English words will delight writers, scholars, crossword puzzlers, and word buffs of every ilk. The words are grouped in intriguing categories that range from "Portmanteaux" to "Words That Make the Spell-Checker Ineffective." each entry includes a concise definition, etymology, and usage example-and many feature fascinating and hilarious commentaries by A Word A Day subscribers and the authors.
