#paperback #reading #vocabulary #plays #etymology # language #simulations

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

Ohio

Reading & Language Arts

Grades 4-8

This book is about words, especially the words of the complex and wonderful English language. Starting with cave drawings, the book traces the development of language and communication from its early beginnings to the present day. You will find a wide array of exciting and challenging activities that will spark your students' interest and help them to improve their skills in language. As a result of completing these activities students will...Comprehend the evolution of language as a means of communication; Have an expanded understanding of word origins and derivations; Make the connection and appreciate the role of history in the development of the English language; Realize the multi-culturism of American English; Increase the comprehension of vocabulary and definitions; Enhance the creativity of their own use of English; Improve their critical-thinking skills; Become engaged in the further understanding of English; andUse English in more creative and effective oral and written communication.Words! Words! Words! is divided into five parts. Part I introduces the story of written language and highlights its evolution in ancient cultures. Part II teaches students about English of long ago and the contribution of noted writers such as Chaucer and Shakespeare. Part III details the growth of American English. In this section, students experience coining phrases, using jargon, finding roots, and translating British English among other challenging activities. Students will have fun with words in Part IV as they create anagrams, use euphemisms, and ponder perplexing palindromes. In Part V students will participate in an exciting culminating activity in which they will create a planned language, use the language in an original short play, and perform the play for family and friends.

Words, Words, Words

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Some water (coffee?) damage to the bottom but in great shape. #hardcover #alphabetversusthegoddess #malewords #femaleimages #linguistics #etymology #history #language #leonardshlain 

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

Indiana

The Alphabet Versus the Goddess

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

Arizona

More Word and Phrase Origins

In words ranging from lollygag to 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 digs behind the colorful language to uncover fascinating stories about the history of language itself.

Verbivore's Feast Second Course

7ef2e1b9-b1b9-4b69-9b41-f518fc378974-1

#educational #dictionary #college #homeschooling #english #paperback #reference #merriam-webster #thesaurus #etymology box 37

Heavy Paperback (2 to 4 lbs)

Texas

English

Combined alphabetically, offers nearly sixty thousand dictionary entries and more than thirteen thousand thesaurus entries, along with usage examples, three thousand etymologies, pronunciations, and grammatical information.

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary and Thesaurus

ce604341-d9de-4398-bdc0-a3b68dadc7a2-1

New York

contains a boatload of things you didnt know about the English language

Word Nerd

#nonfiction #paperback #language #etymology

Iowa

Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins

The cat's pajamas, the bee's knees, and the whole nine yards rolled into one, this true feast for word lovers skewers commonly accepted word-origin myths and etymological folktales. Writing with flair and authority, word maven and Oxford English Dictionary contributor Michael Quinion shows us that the real story behind a word or phrase is often much stranger than the commonly accepted one. With this book in your arsenal, you'll have the last word in every word-lover's game of one-upmanship. So if you've ever wondered why we utter such oddities as "raining cats and dogs," "I couldn't care less," or "twenty-three skidoo," this one's for you. No ballyhoo!

Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds

fe19eaee-54ba-4a5f-8a90-2624df810d79-1

A Word Lover's Guide to the Weirdest, Wackiest, and Wonkiest Lexical Gems

KEYNOTE: A trip through teeming troves of glossographic goodies How many people know how to pronounce humhumunukunukuapuaa*? How many even know what it is? Bill Casselman does. Dictionary in hand, he'll lead you along the highways and byways of English--the world's wackiest, most widespread language. And those who follow will find their vocabularies replete with sesquipedalian vocables and chock-a-block with euphuistic lexemes of logorrheic. From dobdob to dikdik to the outer reaches of ning-nong and prick-me-dainty, in wide-ranging essays explaining hundreds of words and expressions, both common and obscure, Casselman revels in the strange, the surreal, and the mind-bogglingly weird. You are invited to rootle in odd words and to explore amusing anecdotes about familiar phrases (Who knows the origin of the sports phrase "hat trick"?) You'll laugh along with Casselman as he celebrates the wonders, the complexities, and the absurdities of our amazing language. (*Incidentally, humhumunukunukuapuaa is a Hawaiian term that means "little trigger fish with a small nose like a pig.") AUTHOR: Bill Casselman is a leading etymologist who has published ten books on the origins of words and sayings, three of them bestsellers. He is also the author of a medical dictionary and numerous magazine and newspaper columns and articles. He is a columnist at Vocabula, the leading American online word magazine. SELLING POINTS * This is the only humorous exploration of the strangeness of the English language written by a bestselling linguist *People love to explore the quarter-million existing English words *

Where a Dobdob Meets a Dikdik

a0114d93-8ff0-4f81-82a0-800d0fb77227-1

#paperback #nonfiction #socialscience #science #language #humor #history #etymology #swearwords #humanbehavior

Illinois

What Swearing Reveals about Our Language, Our Brains, and Ourselves

It may be starred, beeped, and censored -- yet profanity is so appealing that we can't stop using it. In the funniest, clearest study to date, Benjamin Bergen explains why, and what that tells us about our language and brains.

Nearly everyone swears-whether it's over a few too many drinks, in reaction to a stubbed toe, or in flagrante delicto. And yet, we sit idly by as words are banned from television and censored in books. We insist that people excise profanity from their vocabularies and we punish children for yelling the very same dirty words that we'll mutter in relief seconds after they fall asleep. Swearing, it seems, is an intimate part of us that we have decided to selectively deny.

That's a damn shame. Swearing is useful. It can be funny, cathartic, or emotionally arousing. As linguist and cognitive scientist Benjamin K. Bergen shows us, it also opens a new window onto how our brains process language and why languages vary around the world and over time.

In this groundbreaking yet ebullient romp through the linguistic muck, Bergen answers intriguing questions: How can patients left otherwise speechless after a stroke still shout Goddamn! when they get upset? When did a cock grow to be more than merely a rooster? Why is crap vulgar when poo is just childish? Do slurs make you treat people differently? Why is the first word that Samoan children say not mommy but eat shit? And why do we extend a middle finger to flip someone the bird?

Smart as hell and funny as fuck, What the F is mandatory reading for anyone who wants to know how and why we swear.

What the F

e7a77463-3cc5-49da-95dc-325c289af8cf-1

Pennsylvania

Discover the Surprising Etymology of Everyday Words

This book is awesome awful!

Did you know that "awful" first originated as a compliment? How about the fact that it was perfectly fine for someone to defecate in their living room? Or that at one time a bully was actually a sweetheart?

You may think that these things sound outlandish, but hundreds of years ago, the words "awful," "defecate," and "bully" meant something entirely different than what we know today. The Unexpected Evolution of Language reveals the origins of 208 everyday terms and the interesting stories behind their shift in meaning.
Arranged in alphabetical order, you will enjoy uncovering the backstories to terms like:

 * Awful - worthy of respect or fear; inspiring awe
 * Bimbo - slang for a stupid, inconsequential man
 * Defecate - to purify; cleanse
 * Invest - to clothe; to dress
 * Nice - foolish; stupid
 * Relay - hunting term meaning fresh pack of hounds


From "aftermath" and "sophisticated" to "empty" and "prestige," you will aboslutely love seeing just what kind of damage time has done to the English language.

The Unexpected Evolution of Language

4ad7d6b6-1c76-4f8e-ab92-cfebc5011d58-1

Clarence Lewis Barnhart

Oversized Hardcover (4 to 6 lbs)

The World Book Dictionary

d33bb613-bc0e-4e6c-af8d-4f7098aadafb-1

Peter Berresford Ellis

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

Mississippi

In this compelling and highly reliable study of the Druids, respected Celtic scholar Peter Berresford Ellis sifts through the historical evidence and, with reference to the latest archaeological and etymological findings, gives the first authentic account of who the mysterious Druids were and what role they played in Celtic society. The Druids emerge as the intellectual caste of ancient Celtic society. They were the doctors, the lawyers, the ambassadors, the advisers to kings. They also had a religious function. Ellis describes the special Druidic training, their philosophy, their belief in auguries, and their intriguing origins. He also shows that the current "New Age" image of the Druids as benevolent wizards comes from a woefully inadequate interpretation of the facts.

The Druids

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#hardcover #language #etymology #sociology #nonfiction #socialscience #history #words


Maine

English in the Gutter: Then, Now, and Forever

Profanity has always been a deliciously vibrant part of our lexicon, an integral part of being human. In fact, our ability to curse comes from a different part of the brain than other parts of speech - the urgency with which we say 'f..k!' is instead related to the instinct that tells us to flee from danger. Language evolves with time, and so does what we consider profane or unspeakable. Nine Nasty Words is a rollicking examination of profanity, explored from every angle: historical, sociological, political, linguistic. In a particularly coarse moment, when the public discourse is shaped in part by once-shocking words, nothing could be timelier.

Nine Nasty Words

0c16c4a7-67e5-4a92-a07b-a65b55aa89de-1

#paperback #etymology #wordorigins #reference #wordmeaning #words #dictionary 

Arcade Dictionary of Word Origins

#paperback #greek #greekmythology #etymology #wordsandphrases #wordsfrommyths #myths

A lively, informative guide to more than 300 words and phrases born of mythology 

From Achille's Heel to Zeus's Shield

The ingredients of language

Words and Rules

First printing 
Minor shelf wear, slight lean to spine. Tight binding. Clean text. 

Rhode Island

Hundreds of Stories of Curious Word Origins

Thereby Hangs a Tale 1972 Warner Paperback Library edition

California

Containing Latin and Greek Derivatives, with a Key, Giving the Prefix, Root, and Suffix (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from A Manual of Etymology: Containing Latin and Greek Derivatives, With a Key, Giving the Prefix, Root, and Suffix

The work is progressive, and is specially adapted to use in the class-room. Commencing with affixes, it car ries the pupil, by easy gradations, through the Latin derivatives, each word being illustrated by a sentence containing some historical, scientific, or interesting fact.

In preparing Part III., which treats of Greek roots and derivatives, it has been the aim of the author to remove those obstacles which long experience in teach ing has shown to exist.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

A Manual of Etymology

c5419934-461f-4320-a69a-5773a31bab37-1

Guy Deutscher

Good condition. Slight creasing on cover.

An Evolutionary Tour of Mankind's Greatest Invention

"Blending the spirit of Eats, Shoots & Leaves with the science of The Language Instinct, an original inquiry into the development of that most essential-and mysterious-of human creations: Language"--

The Unfolding of Language

dad50a55-e978-4fbf-8d99-49c0dc4b7c5a-1

Susan K. Sperling

Dust Jacket has some shelf wear, otherwise this is in great shape.

A Celebration of Lost Words

Poplollies and Bellibones

d0829bc7-7b73-405a-a7e0-554b06740be2-1

John P. Cohane

Cyrus H. Gordon

An awesome book about etymological connections between ancient civilizations and societies.

Save this search

Charlotte Jaffe; Barbara Doherty

Words, Words, Words

Leonard Shlain

The Alphabet Versus the Goddess

Chrysti M. Smith

Verbivore's Feast Second Course

Merriam-Webster (Editor)

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary and Thesaurus

Michael Powell

Word Nerd

Michael Quinion

Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds

Bill Casselman

Where a Dobdob Meets a Dikdik

Benjamin K. Bergen

What the F

Justin Cord Hayes

The Unexpected Evolution of Language

Clarence Lewis Barnhart

The World Book Dictionary

Peter Berresford Ellis

The Druids

John McWhorter

Nine Nasty Words

John Ayto

Arcade Dictionary of Word Origins

Dale Corey Dibbley

From Achille's Heel to Zeus's Shield

steven pinker

Words and Rules

Charles Earle Funk

Thereby Hangs a Tale 1972 Warner Paperback Library edition

A. C. Webb

A Manual of Etymology

Guy Deutscher

The Unfolding of Language

Susan K. Sperling

Poplollies and Bellibones

Peter Berresford Ellis

The Druids

John P. Cohane; Cyrus H. Gordon

The Key