Word Drops: A Sprinkling of Linguistic Curiosities

From aardvark to zenzizenzizenzic, Word Drops collects a thousand obscure words and language facts in one fascinating chain of word associations. Did you know, for example, that scandal derives from the Latin for stumbling block and originally described a trap for a wild animal? In nineteenth-century slang a wolf trap was a corrupt casino. Casino means little house in Italian. Roulette means little wheel in French. A wheeler is someone who attends auctions to bid on items merely to increase their sale price. Such links take readers on an unexpected journey through linguistic oddities. Inspired by the popular @HaggardHawks Twitter account, Word Drops also uses an intriguing series of annotations to add background and historical context on everything from Anglo-Saxon cures for insanity to Samuel Pepys's cure for a hangover. This unique book will delight anyone who loves language, etymology, and word games.

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Author: Paul Anthony Jones
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
Published: 04/01/2016
Pages: 216
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.53lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.60w x 0.60d
ISBN: 9780826356567

About the Author
Jones, Paul Anthony: - Paul Anthony Jones is the author of Haggard Hawks and Paltry Poltroons: The Origins of English in Ten Words and Jedburgh Justice and Kentish Fire: The Story of English in Ten Phrases and Expressions. He lives in Newcastle upon Tyne, in the northeast of England.