Devious Derivations : Popular Misconceptions--and More than 1,000 True Origins of Common Words andPhrases

Rating:
Summary: Great Fun!
Review: A great book for anyone who "thinks" they know where some very popular words and phrases come from.

Rating:
Summary: Great Fun!
Review: A great book for anyone who "thinks" they know where some very popular words and phrases come from.

Rating:
Summary: A fascinating look at corrupting our etymological mistooks
Review: This is not simply a book about word origins, because what Hugh Rawson is writing about are the popular misconceptions we have about where words come from. The word "hooker" predates the Civil War and General Joseph Hooker while "crap" was in use prior to Thomas Crapper's invention of the Valveless Water Waste Preventer. Besides such "Imaginary eponyms" Rawson also considers "Spurious acronyms," "Geographic ghosts," "Erudite errors" and "False refinement" to explain why what we know is not true. The author of "Wicked Words" and "A Dictionary of Euphemisms & Other Doublespeak," Rawson certainly has the credentials to correct our misconceptions on over 1,000 entries, with words from "adultery" to "zip" and phrases from "bit the bullet" to "vicious circle." This is a delightful book that you will find fascinating whether you are a teacher trying to get students interested in the wonderful world of words or are just interested in knowing how words and phrases enter our common usage. Give yourself a treat and learn about one word/phrase a day. You have a couple of years of fun here for sure.

Rating:
Summary: A fascinating look at corrupting our etymological mistooks
Review: This is not simply a book about word origins, because what Hugh Rawson is writing about are the popular misconceptions we have about where words come from. The word "hooker" predates the Civil War and General Joseph Hooker while "crap" was in use prior to Thomas Crapper's invention of the Valveless Water Waste Preventer. Besides such "Imaginary eponyms" Rawson also considers "Spurious acronyms," "Geographic ghosts," "Erudite errors" and "False refinement" to explain why what we know is not true. The author of "Wicked Words" and "A Dictionary of Euphemisms & Other Doublespeak," Rawson certainly has the credentials to correct our misconceptions on over 1,000 entries, with words from "adultery" to "zip" and phrases from "bit the bullet" to "vicious circle." This is a delightful book that you will find fascinating whether you are a teacher trying to get students interested in the wonderful world of words or are just interested in knowing how words and phrases enter our common usage. Give yourself a treat and learn about one word/phrase a day. You have a couple of years of fun here for sure.