Education & Reference Books

Hardcover Semantic Antics: How and Why Words Change Meaning Book

Share to Facebook

Share to Pinterest

Share to Twitter

ISBN: 0375426124

ISBN13: 9780375426124

Semantic Antics: How and Why Words Change Meaning

Name: Great stories about words!
Item: Semantic Antics: How and Why Words Change Meaning
Rating: 5
Author: Thriftbooks.com User

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

Select Format

Select Condition

You Might Also Enjoy

Meshuggenary: Celebrating the World of Yiddish

Payson R. Stevens, Sol Steinmetz

from: $5.39

The New Joys of Yiddish: Completely Updated

Leo Rosten

from: $5.19

Chomsky's Universal Grammar: An Introduction

Vivian Cook, Mark Newson

from: $4.99

Expletive Deleted: A Good Look at Bad Language

Ruth Wajnryb

from: $18.19

Euphemania: Our Love Affair with Euphemisms

Ralph Keyes, TurtleMe

from: $4.59

Was Huck Black?: Mark Twain and African-American Voices (Oxford Paperbacks)

Shelley Fisher Fishkin

from: $6.29

Spell It Out: The Singular Story of English Spelling

David Crystal

from: $5.99

Spanglish: The Making of a New American Language

Ilan Stavans

from: $4.79

English-Yiddish Yiddish-English Dictionary: Romanized (Hippocrene Practical Dictionary)

David C. Gross

from: $6.39

English-Hebrew Hebrew-English: Conversational Dictionary/Romanized (Hippocrene Practical Dictionary)

David C. Gross

from: $5.69

Easily Fooled

Bob Fellows

from: $50.29

Word Nerd: More Than 18,000 Fascinating Facts About Words

Barbara Ann Kipfer

from: $5.09

The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer's Block, and the Creative Brain

Alice W. Flaherty

from: $5.29

A Dictionary of Yiddish Slang & Idioms

Fred Kogos

from: $4.89

Instant Yiddish

Fred Kogos

from: $5.39

A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms

Richard A. Lanham

from: $5.99

The Best Pressure Cooker Recipes on the Planet: 200 Triple-Tested, Family-Approved, Fast & Easy Recipes

Debra A. Murray

from: $6.09

Yiddish and English: The Story of Yiddish in America

Sol Steinmetz

Out of Stock

There's a Word for It: The Explosion of the American Language Since 1900

Sol Steinmetz, Dashka Slater

Out of Stock

Yiddish Teacher

Stephen Goldin, h. e. goldin

Out of Stock

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 the one we know today. For example: The wordadamantcame into English around 855 C.E. as a synonym for 'diamond,'very different from today's meaning of the word: "utterly unyielding in attitude or opinion." Before the year 1200, the wordsillymeant "blessed," and was derived from Old Englishsaelig,meaning "happy." This word went through several incarnations before adopting today's meaning: "stupid or foolish." InSemantic Antics, lexicographer Sol Steinmetz takes readers on an in-depth, fascinating journey to learn how hundreds of words have evolved from their first meaning to the meanings used today. 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"

Related Subjects

Etymology Language Arts Semantics Vocabulary, Slang & Word Lists Words, Language & Grammar

Customer Reviews

3 customer ratings | 3 reviews

Write a Review

Rated 5 stars
Great stories about words!

By Thriftbooks.com User, September 19, 2009

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.

0Report

Rated 5 stars
Words To Live By

By Thriftbooks.com User, June 30, 2008

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...

0Report

Rated 5 stars
Review by a connoisseur of the English language

By Thriftbooks.com User, May 28, 2008

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...

0Report