David Wilton

Broschiertes Buch

Word Myths

Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends

Beschreibung

Do you believe that Ring Around the Rosie refers to the Black Death? Or that Eskimos have 50 (or 500) words for "snow"? Or that "Posh" is an acronym for "Port Out, Starboard Home"? If so, you badly need this book. In Word Myths, David Wilton debunks some of the most spectacularly wrong word histories in common usage, giving us the real stories behind many linguistic urban legends.

Autor

David Wilton is the creator and editor of wordorigins.org, since 1997 a leading Internet site for word and phrase origins. He has served as a journalist, Army officer, defense contractor, chemical and biological arms control negotiator, and software marketing executive. He lives in California.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Oxford University Press Inc
• Seitenzahl: 234
• Erscheinungstermin: 1. November 2008
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 216mm x 140mm x 14mm
• Gewicht: 304g
• ISBN-13: 9780195375572
• ISBN-10: 0195375572
• Artikelnr.: 23575319

Rezensionen

"This fascinating collection of myths about word origins should be a joy to read."-Don McCreary, Department of English, University of Georgia.