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Semantic Antics: How and Why Words Change Meaning Hardcover - 2008
by Steinmetz, Sol
- New
- Hardcover
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Details
- Title Semantic Antics: How and Why Words Change Meaning
- Author Steinmetz, Sol
- Binding Hardcover
- Edition First Edition
- Condition New
- Pages 272
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher Random House Reference, New York, New York, U.S.A.
- Date 2008-03-25
- Bookseller's Inventory # Q-0375426124
- ISBN 9780375426124 / 0375426124
- Weight 0.68 lbs (0.31 kg)
- Dimensions 7.4 x 5.18 x 0.96 in (18.80 x 13.16 x 2.44 cm)
- Library of Congress subjects English language - Etymology, English language - Semantics
- Library of Congress Catalog Number 2007031265
- Dewey Decimal Code 422
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Summary
"My favorite popular word book of the year"-William Safire, NY Times 6/22/2008A fun, new approach to examining etymology!Many common English words started out with an entirely different meaning than the one we know today. For example:The word adamant came into English around 855 C.E. as a synonym for 'diamond,' very different from today's meaning of the word: "utterly unyielding in attitude or opinion."Before the year 1200, the word silly meant "blessed," and was derived from Old English saelig, meaning "happy." This word went through several incarnations before adopting today's meaning: "stupid or foolish."In Semantic Antics, lexicographer Sol Steinmetz takes readers on an in-depth, fascinating journey to learn how hundreds of words have evolved from their first meaning to the meanings used today.From the Hardcover edition.