Charles Earle Funk Book order

The book explores the etymology of words, revealing their often prosaic origins in languages such as Old English, Old French, Latin, and Greek. It reflects on the limitations of dictionaries, which provide only skeletal details about word origins, leaving much of the rich history and stories behind these words untold. The author draws on decades of research, initiated under Dr. Frank H. Vizetelly, to delve into the deeper narratives that may have accompanied the evolution of language, acknowledging that many of these tales have been lost to time.

Traces the sources of over four hundred expressions and sayings used in everyday speech.