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More Word Histories and Mysteries : From Aardvark to Zombie
American Heritage Dictionary
Paperback - $15.70
In this companion to the popular "Word Histories and Mysteries: From Abracadabra to Zeus," the most surprising stories in the history of English vocabulary are told as a series of brief notes written in a lively and entertaining style.
Spanish Word Histories and Mysteries : English Words That Come from Spanish
American Heritage Dictionary
Paperback - $15.70
Most people know that words like burrito and quesadilla come from Spanish, but there are many more English words that we would never suspect are Spanish until we look closely. Did you know that the words breeze and hammock come from Spanish? The...
Movers and Shakers : A Chronology of Words That Shaped Our Age
John Ayto
Hardcover - $36.30
Take a fascinating journey from cornflakes (1907) to spam (1994). This vivid picture of the last 105 years is based on John Ayto's critically acclaimed Twentieth Century Words, and gives a selection of the key words added to the English language in the...
Only in Canada, You Say : A Treasury of Canadian Language
Katherine Barber
Paperback - $15.70
Only in Canada You Say highlights more than 1,200 words and phrases that are unique to our neighbors to the north. Did you know, for example, that there are 17 Canadian words for ice! Organized thematically, Only in Canada You Say covers Canadian...
A Garden of Words
Martha Barnette
Paperback - $25.40
Did you know that the tulip gets its name from a kind of headwear? What''s the linguistic link between the lovely gladiolus and a fierce gladiator ? A rose by any other name may smell as sweet--but why do we call it a rose ? ...
Words to the Whys : The Reasons We Use the Words We Do
Randall K. Bell
Paperback - $41.10
Why is the strawberry so named? Why do we call a portable clock a watch? Since semi means “half,” why is a large truck called that? If French fries did not originate in France, why do we call them that? Why are divisions of an hour called minutes and...
Wanderings Among Words
Henry Bett
Paperback - $32.70
This book is a fascinating study of the history and derivation of many familiar English words. Amongst other things, it deals with some of the primitive elements in our speech which take us back to prehistoric times; with the debt our language owes to...