When did you last hear someone refer to the wireless? Do you know the origin of the expression tin-horn gambler? Language is always changing, and in Gallimaufry, Michael Quinion has gathered together hundreds of fascinating examples of words and meanings which have vanished from our language. Sometimes a word is lost when the thing it describes becomes obsolete, sometimes it survives in a figurative sense while the original meaning is lost, and sometimes it simply gives way to a more popular alternative. We discover that scuttlebutt was the name of a water cask on a ship, around which sailors might gossip. The popular hat Fedora got its name from a character in a French play (Fedora Romanov, played by Sarah Bernhardt). With over a thousand curious words grouped under such headings as Food and Drink, Health and Medicine, and Entertainment and Leisure, and an index of featured words, this book is perfect for anyone intrigued with the history of the English language.
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About the Author:
Michael Quinion is a professional writer who has published widely on the English language. He was a co-author of the second edition of the Oxford Dictionary of New Words.
Review:
`Review from previous edition I have bought my husband's Christmas present'
Dot Wordsworth, The Spectator
`A fascinating book, full of the kind of authoritative information his readers have come to expect'
Jonathon Green, World Wide Words
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherOxford University Press
- Publication date2009
- ISBN 10 0199551022
- ISBN 13 9780199551026
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages272
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