Semantic Antics: How and Why Words Change Meaning

by Sol Steinmetz and Ray Samuel; Leonard V. Huber; Warren C. Ogden

Book Overview

"My favorite popular word book of the year" -William Safire,NY Times6/22/2008 A fun, new approach to examining etymology! Many common English words started out with an entirely different meaning than... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375426124
• ISBN13: 9780375426124
• Release Date: March 2008
• Publisher: Random House Reference Publishing
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.2" x 7.4"

Customer Reviews

Great stories about words!

I wish I could write like Sol Steinmetz! Changes in the meanings of words are so interesting, but it is often hard to segue and make it from one usage to another in telling the stories. But Sol Steinmetz is a master of this. His research is impeccable and the supporting quotations are helpful and illuminating. This is enjoyable and educational for all word lovers.

Words To Live By

Who would have thought words like "nice" and "pretty" meant something completely different hundreds of years ago or that "satellite" referred to a bodyguard? In this extraordinary yet compact book, "Semantic Antics", Sol Steinmetz reviews dozens of words and how they have evolved over time. It's a simple formula...the author presents a word, gives the current and original meanings, describes from what language it is derived and often cites the word or phrase in literature. Steinmetz begins with several different reasons why words can develop and change over time and adds to that at the end. It serves as a good set of bookends to the text within. Amelioration (upgrading of words) and pejoration (downgrading) appear most often, it seems, as the likely causes for word changes, with the latter far more prevalent. Each entry is brief but just the right length to hold the reader's interest. I highly recommend "Semantic Antics" as a terrific addition to etymology.

Review by a connoisseur of the English language

I got this book for a friend who is a connoisseur of the English language -- her post-graduate work was on its ancestral beginnings, she taught it in academia, and she was the top techwriter for a major Fortune 100 corporation for 20 years. Here is her assessment: "At last, a book about the evolution of the English language that is written in a breezy, interesting style! Whether you have an academic or a casual interest in the history of the language, Semantic Antics traces some of the most interesting words in our language from their roots to modern day usage --- in an accurate, non-pedantic manner."