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- 288 pages
- 11 hours of reading
More about the book
Did you know that an assassin is a hashish-eater and a yokel a country woodpecker? That Dr Mesmer mesmerised patients back to health or that Samuel Pepys enjoyed a good game of handicap ? While we're at it, what have spondulics to do with spines or lawyers with avocados ? In It's a Wonderful Word , bestselling author Albert Jack collects over 500 of the strangest, funniest-sounding and most delightful words in the English language, and traces them back to their often puzzling origins. While brushing up on your gibberish or gobbledygook , discover why bastards should resent travelling salesmen, why sheets should remain on tenterhooks and why you should never set down a tumbler before finishing your drink. From blotto to bamboozle and from claptrap to quango , Albert Jack's addictive anecdotes bring the world's most colourful language to life and are guaranteed to surprise and entertain.
Book purchase
It's a Wonderful Word, Albert Jack
- Language
- Released
- 2012
- product-detail.submit-box.info.binding
- (Paperback)
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- Title
- It's a Wonderful Word
- Subtitle
- The Real Origins of Our Favourite Words
- Language
- English
- Authors
- Albert Jack
- Publisher
- Arrow
- Released
- 2012
- Format
- Paperback
- Pages
- 288
- ISBN10
- 0099562324
- ISBN13
- 9780099562320
- Series
- Tags
- Non-Fiction, Social Sciences, Historical Themes, Business, Business & Management, Humor, References & Manuals, Economics, Languages, Technology, Education & School System, Sociology, Society, Feminism, Parenthood, Linguistics, Anthropology, Writing, World History, Culture, Social History, Civilization, Innovation, Jack the Ripper
- Rating
- 3.25 out of 5
- Description
- Did you know that an assassin is a hashish-eater and a yokel a country woodpecker? That Dr Mesmer mesmerised patients back to health or that Samuel Pepys enjoyed a good game of handicap ? While we're at it, what have spondulics to do with spines or lawyers with avocados ? In It's a Wonderful Word , bestselling author Albert Jack collects over 500 of the strangest, funniest-sounding and most delightful words in the English language, and traces them back to their often puzzling origins. While brushing up on your gibberish or gobbledygook , discover why bastards should resent travelling salesmen, why sheets should remain on tenterhooks and why you should never set down a tumbler before finishing your drink. From blotto to bamboozle and from claptrap to quango , Albert Jack's addictive anecdotes bring the world's most colourful language to life and are guaranteed to surprise and entertain.