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Sat 13 Dec, 2008 11:04 am
As if I have any free time...I have become fascinated with the origin of certain words. I spend tons of time looking up the etymology of words. I love words...but how they came about is truly what intrigues me. Does anyone know a good book to have on hand to read about etymology? I have found a few but was interested to know if you all have any recommendations.
Thanks!
I'm not really into bugs . . .
@Setanta,
isn't that entymology? Or did I get them confused...
it happens.
truly helpful Set
@mismi,
I was just bein' a brat, darlin' . . . pay no attention to the man behind the curtain . . .
OK, i'll give you a couple of titles which i enjoyed, having read them long, long ago. I'm sure there are more accurate books, and certainly more contemporary books, but i suspect you'd like these anyway.
Mario Andrew Pei:
The Story of Language, Lippincott, 1949
The Story of English: A Modern Approach, Premier, 1962.
Obviously, there will be more modern books. But those were both written for non-specialists with an interest in the development of language. They are not necessarily dedicated only to the subject of etymology, but i think you'd enjoy them. Any good library system should be able to get them for you.
There is an on-line resource which i have found useful on many occasions. It is not the equivalent of a book on the subject of etymology, but you can use it when you want to know the derivation of most common words.
The Online Etymology Dictionary states that they have the derivations of more than 30,000 words.
@Setanta,
THAT IS WONDERFUL! Thank you Set...I knew if anyone could help me you would be it! Thank you so much! I love the online dictionary as well....
Gee you're swell!
@mismi,
mismi :
i have the "compact edition" of the OED - 4,000 pages in micro-print . it'll keep you busy for some time . it gives the first recorded use of any word ... and anything else you might want to know about any word in the english language .
it's a 2 volume set - each book weighs about 10 pounds .
it sells for around $100 used - perhaps much less at a book sale - people use the cd version now - fairly pricy $500 + used .
fascinating reading !
hbg
@hamburger,
Now that is awesome hamburger - I am putting it on my list as well. My husband will enjoy it too! Thank you!
@mismi,
glad to help , mismi !
it's weight also makes it useful for weighlifting exercises <grin> and eventually makes it a solid doorstop !
i really do like it !
hbg
@hamburger,
does it come with the magnifying glass? I can't believe how big it is and how much information it holds... I like books better, even though I know it is easier to use the CD. I can online reference if I need something quick. I just like the idea of knowing when a word was first used and where it came from. Think it is amazing...And as you pointed out - there are so many other uses for it!
@mismi,
The magnifying glass came in the little drawer in the case the books arrive in.
That compact OED is wonderful. I spent a lot of time reading it. I was a weird kid.
Is OED available in a CD or on-line?.
I understand that you can use an OED to put your budgie down.
a classic dialogue on the meaning of words
«What a beautiful belt you've got on!» Alice suddenly remarked.
(They had had quite enough of the subject of age, she thought: and if they really were to take turns in choosing subjects, it was her turn now.) «At least,» she corrected herself on second thoughts, «a beautiful cravat, I should have said"no, a belt, I mean"I beg your pardon!» she added in dismay, for Humpty Dumpty looked thoroughly offended, and she began to wish she hadn't chosen that subject. «If I only knew,» the thought to herself, «which was neck and which was waist!»
Evidently Humpty Dumpty was very angry, though he said nothing for a minute or two. When he did speak again, it was in a deep growl.
«It is a"most"provoking"thing,» he said at last, «when a person doesn't know a cravat from a belt!»
«I know it's very ignorant of me,» Alice said, in so humble a tone that Humpty Dumpty relented.
«It's a cravat, child, and a beautiful one, as you say. It's a present from the White King and Queen. There now!»
«Is it really?» said Alice, quite pleased to find that she had chosen a good subject, after all.
«They gave it me,» Humpty Dumpty continued thoughtfully, as he crossed one knee over the other and clasped his hands round it, «they gave it me"for an un-birthday present.»
«I beg your pardon?» Alice said with a puzzled air.
«I'm not offended,» said Humpty Dumpty.
«I mean, what Is an un-birthday present?»
«A present given when it isn't your birthday, of course.»
Alice considered a little. «I like birthday presents best,» she said at last.
«You don't know what you're talking about!» cried Humpty Dumpty. «How many days are there in a year?»
«Three hundred and sixty-five,» said Alice.
«And how many birthdays have you?»
«One.»
«And if you take one from three hundred and sixty-five, what remains?»
«Three hundred and sixty-four, of course.»
Humpty Dumpty looked doubtful. «I'd rather see that done on paper,» he said.
Alice couldn't help smiling as she took out her memorandum-book, and worked the sum for him:
365
- 1
----
364
Humpty Dumpty took the book, and looked at it carefully. «That seems to be done right"» he began.
«you're holding it upside down!» Alice interrupted.
«To be sure I was!» Humpty Dumpty said gaily, as she turned it round for him. «I thought it looked a little queer. As I was saying, that seems to be done right"though I haven't time to look it over thoroughly just now"and that shows that there are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents"»
«Certainly,» said Alice.
«And only one for birthday presents, you know. There's glory for you!»
«I don't know what you mean by “glory,”» Alice said.
Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. «Of course you don't" till I tell you. I meant “there's a nice knock-down argument for you!”»
«But “glory” doesn't mean “a nice knock-down argument,”» Alice objected.
«When I use a word,» Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, «it means just what I choose it to mean"neither more nor less.»
«The question is,» said Alice, «whether you can make words mean so many different things.»
«The question is,» said Humpty Dumpty, «which is to be master" that's all.»
Alice was too much puzzled to say anything, so after a minute Humpty Dumpty began again. «They've a temper, some of them" particularly verbs, they're the proudest"adjectives you can do anything with, but not verbs"however, I can manage the whole lot of them! Impenetrability! That's what I say!»
«Would you tell me, please,» said Alice «what that means?»
«Now you talk like a reasonable child,» said Humpty Dumpty, looking very much pleased. «I meant by “impenetrability” that we've had enough of that subject, and it would be just as well if you'd mention what you mean to do next, as I suppose you don't mean to stop here all the rest of your life.»
«That's a great deal to make one word mean,» Alice said in a thoughtful tone.
«When I make a word do a lot of work like that,» said Humpty Dumpty, «I always pay it extra.»
«Oh!» said Alice. She was too much puzzled to make any other remark.
«Ah, you should see »em come round me of a Saturday night,» Humpty Dumpty went on, wagging his head gravely from side to side: «for to get their wages, you know.»
(Alice didn't venture to ask what he paid them with; and so you see I can't tell you.)
«You seem very clever at explaining words, Sir,» said Alice. «Would you kindly tell me the meaning of the poem called “Jabberwocky”?»
«Let's hear it,» said Humpty Dumpty. «I can explain all the poems that were ever invented"and a good many that haven't been invented just yet.»
This sounded very hopeful, so Alice repeated the first verse:
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
«That's enough to begin with,» Humpty Dumpty interrupted: «there are plenty of hard words there. “brillig” means four o'clock in the afternoon"the time when you begin broiling things for dinner.»
«That'll do very well,» said Alice: and “slithy“?»
«Well, “slithy” means “lithe and slimy.” “Lithe” is the same as “active.” You see it's like a portmanteau"there are two meanings packed up into one word.»
«I see it now,» Alice remarked thoughtfully: «and what are “toves“?»
«Well, “toves” are something like badgers"they're something like lizards"and they're something like corkscrews.»
«They must be very curious looking creatures.»
«They are that,» said Humpty Dumpty: «also they make their nests under sun-dials"also they live on cheese.»
«Andy what's the “gyre” and to “gimble“?»
«To “gyre” is to go round and round like a gyroscope. To “gimble” is to make holes like a gimlet.»
«And “the wabe” is the grass-plot round a sun-dial, I suppose?» said Alice, surprised at her own ingenuity.
«Of course it is. It's called “wabe,” you know, because it goes a long way before it, and a long way behind it"»
«And a long way beyond it on each side,» Alice added.
«Exactly so. Well, then, “mimsy” is “flimsy and miserable” (there's another portmanteau for you). And a “borogove” is a thin shabby-looking bird with its feathers sticking out all round" something like a live mop.»
«And then “mome raths”?» said Alice. «I'm afraid I'm giving you a great deal of trouble.»
«Well, a “rath” is a sort of green pig: but “mome” I'm not certain about. I think it's short for “from home”"meaning that they'd lost their way, you know.»
«And what does “outgrabe” mean?»
«Well, “outgrabing” is something between bellowing and whistling, with a kind of sneeze in the middle: however, you'll hear it done, maybe"down in the wood yonder"and when you've once heard it you'll be quite content. Who's been repeating all that hard stuff to you?»
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081229/crain/single
Quote:Pixies, Sheilas, Dirtbags and Cougar Bait: Modern Slang
2 new dictionaries
Stone the Crows: Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang
by John Ayto and John Simpson, eds.
The Routledge Dictionary of Modern American Slang and Unconventional English
by Tom Dalzell, ed.
Quote:To steer successfully between the normal and the too-peculiar, a slang dictionary must be an exercise in tact as well as linguistics. As a result, it's likely to evince personality. Stone the Crows, the second edition of Oxford University Press's dictionary of modern slang, is eccentric and risqué, like a well-read, intermittently potty-mouthed uncle. The charms of The Routledge Dictionary of Modern American Slang and Unconventional English, on the other hand, are somewhat coarser, and bring to mind a younger brother with troubled friends who has memorized long stretches of dialogue from movies starring stoners or mobsters. To explain the word "fairy," the Oxford quotes Evelyn Waugh. To explain "dirtbag," the Routledge quotes Ferris Bueller's Day Off. It isn't quite fair to compare the two, because the Oxford collects English-language slang in use anywhere (but predominantly in Britain) since World War I and the Routledge restricts itself to America since World War II. Accordingly, the Oxford features "Joe Bloggs" (an average fellow) and "Joe Soap" (a gull), while the Routledge has "Joe Sixpack" (a blue-collar type), "Joe Schmo" (a representative dimwit) and "Joe Cool" (someone who aspires to the sang-froid of Snoopy in sunglasses). But the difference in catchment areas cannot alone explain how little overlap there is. The Oxford claims that the Swiss itch, a style of tequila drinking that involves licking salt beforehand and sucking lime afterward, is American and dates from 1959, but the Routledge doesn't know about it. The words "love apple," "ladies' aid" and "joybox" look naughty but have innocent meanings, a contrast that might be expected to appeal to the Oxford's whimsical spirit; but only the Routledge reveals that they refer to a tomato, a pool-cue support and a piano, respectively.
@farmerman,
Yes, you can get an OED cd-rom set, and yes, you can visit it on-line,
if you pay the subscription fee.
I vouch for the OED, it's the best etymology resource hands down. The Etymology Online site that Setanta linked to is also a good resource that I've used many times (the author is also a member here on able2know).
@mismi,
mismi :
it comes with a magnifying glass - a rather large one - and you'll need it .
hbg
@hamburger,
i'd left for a couple of hours between keying my reply and posting it - didn't realize how much had happened in the meantime .
hbg
@farmerman,
farmerman :
info about OED on cd :
http://oed.com/services/cd-rom/
"putting a budgie down" - don't let a volume fall on your toes - each weighs probably 10 pounds plus !
hbg
@hamburger,
hooooooooley mackerel - that oed CD is $895.oo
good reading folks - thanks for all your input!
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