Overview

Where do our everyday words come from? The bagel you eat for breakfast, the bumf you have to wade through at the office, and the bus that takes you home again: we use these words without thinking about their origins or how their meanings have changed over time. Simon Horobin takes the reader on a journey through a typical day, showing how the words we use to describe routine activities - getting up, going to work, eating meals - have surprisingly fascinating histories.

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9780198832270

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A book to make you stop and marvel over words we use unthinkingly every day. Simon Horobin offers a tantalising glimpse into the hidden lives of our vocabulary. If you've ever pondered why eggs is eggs, or whether toadying up to someone ever involved a real amphibian, this is the book for you. * Susie Dent, lexicographer and etymologist * For anyone curious about where everyday English words come from, this accessible text will prove to be an enticing choice, as well as a useful guide for general readers seeking resources on English usage and popular linguistics. * Library Journal *

A book to make you stop and marvel over words we use unthinkingly every day. Simon Horobin offers a tantalising glimpse into the hidden lives of our vocabulary. If you've ever pondered why eggs is eggs, or whether toadying up to someone ever involved a real amphibian, this is the book for you. * Susie Dent, lexicographer and etymologist *

Author Information

Simon Horobin is Professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Magdalen College. He is the author of The English Language: A Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2018), How English Became English (OUP, 2016), and Does Spelling Matter? (OUP, 2013). He has appeared as an English language expert on radio and television programmes such as Radio 2's Jeremy Vine Show and Radio 4's Stephen Fry's English Delight.

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