Word Mysteries and Histories: From Quiche to Humble Pie

Bys: Moser, Barry and American Heritage Dictionary

Book Overview

Delightful reading for all lovers of the language, animated by Barry Moser's haunting wood engravings. This superb collection of 500 English word origins is the perfect book for browsers, students and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0395402646
• ISBN13: 9780395402641
• Release Date: January 1987
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Great word histories; lousy "art"

I love words and gravitate towards books about them.Here the authors explore the backgrounds of a variety of words from "paparazzi" to "teflon," "silhouette" to "zugzwang." Emphasis is on the mystery as well as the history of the words. Illustrations by Robert Moser, original wood carvings commissioned for this work, are sometimes macabre, always different. Much of the art work borders on the repulsive and the words aren't particularly unusual -- I found only 3 I didn't know and zugzwang was one of them.But their histories are fascinating and, after all, that's what the book is about. I just wish they'd concentrated on the words and left out the "art" entirely.