Altered English -Op/064

by Jeffrey Kacirk

Book Overview

Over the Centuries, innumerable English words have drifted from their original purposes and acquired vastly diferent meanings -- some subtle and others not so. This process is a continuous one, as can... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0764920197
• ISBN13: 9780764920196
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Pomegranate Communications
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.9" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

From a Columnist

"Kacirk has collected current words and provided earlier definitions and their sources ... alphabetically, beginning with abandon ('to banish, to drive away' -- John Phin, 1902) and ending with a zig-zag ('drunk' -- Edward Fraser and John Gibbons, 1925). Kacirk's book is a flip-through find, perfect for everyone from lay word nerds to top-dollar scholars."--Dave Ford, San Francisco Chronicle

Approximately 1,500 original and archaic definitions

Altered English: Surprise Meanings Of Familiar Words by ongoing contributor to the "Oxford English Dictionary" Jeffrey Kacirck, is a fascinating compilation of approximately 1,500 original and archaic definitions of familiar and contemporary words. Altered English: Surprise Meanings Of Familiar Words is a simply amazing reference that is pure fun to page through and packed from cover to cover with amusing surprises! For example, the original meaning of "landowner" was: A dead man; from his occupation of his grave. A common colloquialism for a man killed on the Western Front was 'a landowner in France. (Edward Fraser and John Gibbons, 1925)." If you have a fondness for complexity, richness, and surprises of the English language, then Altered English: Surprise Meanings Of Familiar Words is the book for you!