The Secret Life of Words

The Secret Life of Words
Author :
Publisher : Macmillan + ORM
Total Pages : 450
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781429941570
ISBN-13 : 142994157X
Rating : 4/5 (57X Downloads)

Book Synopsis The Secret Life of Words by : Henry Hitchings

Download or read book The Secret Life of Words written by Henry Hitchings and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2009-09-29 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Words are essential to our everyday lives. An average person spends his or her day enveloped in conversations, e-mails, phone calls, text messages, directions, headlines, and more. But how often do we stop to think about the origins of the words we use? Have you ever thought about which words in English have been borrowed from Arabic, Dutch, or Portuguese? Try admiral, landscape, and marmalade, just for starters. The Secret Life of Words is a wide-ranging account not only of the history of English language and vocabulary, but also of how words witness history, reflect social change, and remind us of our past. Henry Hitchings delves into the insatiable, ever-changing English language and reveals how and why it has absorbed words from more than 350 other languages—many originating from the most unlikely of places, such as shampoo from Hindi and kiosk from Turkish. From the Norman Conquest to the present day, Hitchings narrates the story of English as a living archive of our human experience. He uncovers the secrets behind everyday words and explores the surprising origins of our most commonplace expressions. The Secret Life of Words is a rich, lively celebration of the language and vocabulary that we too often take for granted.


The Secret Life of Words Related Books

The Secret Lives of Words
Language: en
Pages: 312
Authors: Paul West
Categories: Language Arts & Disciplines
Type: BOOK - Published: 2000 - Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Word-lovers rejoice! This fascinating book reveals the amazing and bizarre histories of language's building blocks. "A sorcerer of language".--"Publishers Weekl
The Secret Life of Words
Language: en
Pages: 450
Authors: Henry Hitchings
Categories: Language Arts & Disciplines
Type: BOOK - Published: 2009-09-29 - Publisher: Macmillan + ORM

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Words are essential to our everyday lives. An average person spends his or her day enveloped in conversations, e-mails, phone calls, text messages, directions,
Word by Word
Language: en
Pages: 322
Authors: Kory Stamper
Categories: Language Arts & Disciplines
Type: BOOK - Published: 2018-03-06 - Publisher: Vintage

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

“We think of English as a fortress to be defended, but a better analogy is to think of English as a child. We love and nurture it into being, and once it gain
The Secret Life of Pronouns
Language: en
Pages: 366
Authors: James W. Pennebaker
Categories: Language Arts & Disciplines
Type: BOOK - Published: 2013-01-15 - Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The author of Opening Up draws on groundbreaking research in computational linguistics to explain what our language choices reveal about feelings, self-concept
The Secret Life of Books
Language: en
Pages: 240
Authors: Tom Mole
Categories:
Type: BOOK - Published: 2020-12-02 - Publisher:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

We love books. We take them to bed with us. They weigh down our suitcases on holiday. We display them on our bookshelves, give them as gifts, write our names in