English Through the Ages

by William Brohaugh

"Laptop," "quality time," "politically correct," "wannabe," and "spin doctor"--these terms are all such mainstays of our modern-day vernacular that it's hard to believe they are only about 15 years... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0898796555
• ISBN13: 9780898796551
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Writer's Digest Books
• Length: 586 Pages
• Weight: 2.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.8" x 7.6" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Marvelous match for writers of historical fiction or high fantasy

If you write historical fiction (or high fantasy), this book is a marvelous match to help create verisimilitude. It charts the usage of English words in a user friendly format. For example, if you're writing a story that takes place in the late 19th century, you can turn to the sections "In Use by 1875" and "In Use by 1900." There you will find words that came into use during those decades, grouped according to categories such as geography, plants, weather, science, religion, technology, everyday life, agriculture, professions, family, etc. In the back of the book is an alphabetical list of individual words, a list that references the page where each word appears in the sections sorted by date. For instance, if you have used the word "sure-handed" in your narrative that takes place in 1875, you can look up "sure-handed" and find that it did not appear in English usage until around 1930. Thus, as an accurate historian, you would search your brain for a different word that actually fits the era. I recommend this handy desk reference to any writer for whom accurate depiction of era is important.

Indispensable Reference tool for Writers

For writers of historical fiction, plays, or screenplays, this is an indispensable tool, as important as a dictionary. It not only helps you avoid anachronisms, it introduces you to words you never would have found by any other means. Other reviewers have described the format, so I won't go over that, but I want people to know that this book deserves 1,000 stars!

great reference for writers of historical fiction

So many times I see historical writers using words I know does not go back to that era. Etymology is often left off from even good dictionaries these days in effort to cut costs and online website dictionary totally ignore this part, so there is often no quick reference to check when words came into use. This book fills that gap. I am not sure the set up is perfect, but then unsure if any form would be. This one starts with 1150, listing words that came from that period, then jumps to 1350 to 1470, then 1500, 1550, 1600, 1650,1700, 1750, 1825, 1875, 1900 and 1920. 1950-1990 are done by decade. It has an index at the end so you are able to look up a word if you are unaware of the time period and back track. This is a very useful resource for writers looking to rid their words of those pesky anachronisms.

A Plenteous and Pure Tome of the English Tongue

This book belongs in your collection if you are interested in word useage through time. This book is particularly useful when you want to give your historical writing that extra oomph, and you want to use the right word for the right time. How about a quick insult? Flip to the proper time frame, say 1350, and Lo! Words like "Lurdane" (dull, heavy, stupid, sluggish) and "Gig" (Sorry, this is a family website, you'll have to read the book)abound anon.You can also use the index to locate a particular word. The page numbers will tip you off as to where the word falls in the timeline.A very helpful, but not always employed, feature is the notation "u", meaning the word was in use until a particular time. This way, you can be confident that "gig" was a good insult "u1700". We are bounden to William Brohaugh.