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Thereby Hangs a Tale: Stories of Curious Word Origins
Paperback
ISBN13: 9780062720498
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Published: Nov 18 1993
Pages: 320
Weight: 0.50
Height: 0.78 Width: 5.33 Depth: 8.01
Language: English
From mad as a wet hen to corn dodger and hobgoblin, Charles Funk's collections of curious words and expressions are a treasure trove of word origin.
In a language where hearse and rehearse have the same root and the word dunce comes from a great philosopher, English has hundreds of everyday words that originated or acquired their meanings in unusual ways. Dictionaries don't have the space to tell us all the mysteries but now Dr. Funk, with humor and insight, tells us the strange and intriguing stories of hundreds of words and how they came to be a part of our language.
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