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Strange to say : etymology as serious entertainment / Deborah Warren.

by Warren, Deborah, 1946- author.

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Philadelphia : Paul Dry Books, 2021.

Language and languages -- Etymology.

Historical lexicology.

Linguistic change.

9781589881570 (paperback) :

1589881575 (paperback)

x, 194 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

First Paul Dry Books Edition.

An invitation -- Coming to terms. In a word : evolution -- Double-speak : Anglo-Latin -- From the word go : word gets around -- Putting words in my mouth : eat your words -- Buzz words : liquor -- Speaking ill of -- Say it with flowers -- Too funny for words : laughter -- Bespoke : clothes and cloth -- Walk the talk : wandering -- As good as your word. Speak of the devil -- Speak no evil : religion -- Baby talk : children -- What's the magic word? Fortune-telling -- The last word : death -- Talk the hind leg off a donkey. Cat got your tongue? -- Tongues wag : canines -- The horse's mouth -- Name-calling. In name only : family names -- On a first-name basis : to name names -- Talk of many things : cabbages--and kings : pedigree and politics -- Talk of the town : place names -- Take my word for it : malaprops and mondegreens (a media circus) -- In so many words. Take a number -- Prison terms -- Pay the piper, call the tune -- Speaking of which : pronouns -- Play on words: sports -- The name of the game : talking points -- In glowing terms : colors -- Say when : telling time -- Body language : from hand to mouth -- Strange to say -- Even as we speak : now you're talking.

"In her witty account of the origins of many English words and expressions, Deborah Warren educates as she entertains-and entertain she does, leading her readers through the amazing labyrinthian history of related words. "Language," she writes, "is all about mutation.""--Provided by publisher.

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