Overview

Communication is essential to our lives, but how often do we stop to think about where the words we use have come from Have you ever thought about which words in English have been borrowed from Arabic, French or Dutch Try admiral, landscape and marmalade just for starters. The Secret Life of Words is a wide-ranging account not only of the history of English, but also of how words witness history, reflect social change and remind us of our turbulent past. Henry Hitchings delves into our promiscuous language and reveals how and why it has absorbed words from more than 350 other languages - many originating from the most unlikely of places, such as shampoo from Hindi and kiosk from Turkish. From the Norman Conquest to the present day, Hitchings narrates the story of English as an archive of our human experience and uncovers the secrets behind everyday words. This is a celebration of our language; after reading it, you will never again take the words we use for granted.

Full Product Details

9780719566325

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Reviews

'Hitchings offers us a highly entertaining guided tour...anyone interested in dictionaries, Dr Johnson or the English language will surely spend many happy hours with this book' -- The Independent 20050415 'Ingenious and fascinating' -- The Sunday Times 20050327 'Excellent.' -- Daily Express 20050401 'Immensely enjoyable, easily erudite' -- Scotland On Sunday 20050403 'I can warmly recommend Henry Hitching's book...affectionate in its portrayal of Johnson, the book itself is immensely likeable, written with serious intent and gentle good humour.' -- Spectator 20050409 'Lively and entertaining' -- Observer 20050424 'A pleasant stroll, with a genial guide, through Johnson's life' -- The Independent on Sunday 20050417 'Clever, wittily-written and amusingly-arranged' -- The Guardian 20050416 'A rich, lively and attractive book.' -- The Times Literary Supplement 20050415 'Hitchings writes with Johnsonian clarity and verve ... This is a charming book' -- Evening Standard 20050418 'A clever, sympathetic and witty sketch of both man and book.' -- Waterstones Books Quarterly 20060401 'A goldmine of pleasures...Hitchings has an infectious relish for words' - Phil Baker -- The Sunday Times 20060423 'Full of elegance and nail-on-the-head wit' -- Sunday Telegraph 20060416 'Hitchings has produced an absorbing account of Johnson's Dictionary that is as likeable as it is learned' -- Independent 20060428 'Full of serendipitous felicities' -- Times Higher Education Supplement 20060421 'Hitchings excellent book is both a great potted guide to the dictionary and its creation, and a marvellous biography of Johnson...A must-have for devotees of the English Language' -- Observer 20060410 'Excellent... Hitching's book is full of serendipitous felicities' -- David Nokes, Times Higher Educational Supplement 20060421 'In [Johnson's] description of dull he writes: Not exhilarating; not delightful; as, to make dictionaries is dull work. Nobody could describe Hitching's book as dull' -- Colin Waters, Sunday Herald 20060507 'This story is a pleasurable stroll through Johnson's life, and combines elements of biography with social history and an examination of Johnson's concerns, illustrated by examples from the great work itself.' -- Irish Times 20060520 'Memorable passages on a range of fascinating subjects.' -- The Good Book Guide 20060501 'An engaging profile of one of London's great characters' -- Time Out, Tom Howard 20060501 'Henry Hitchings (a fine 18th-century name that) is a remarkable young scholar of the age of Johnson, and his DR JOHNSON'S DICTIONARY, arranged alphabetically like the eponymous original whose 250th anniversary it celebrates, offers an entertaining window on this most fascinating character and his times' -- BBC History Magazine 20060501 'Entertaining study...The great strength of Hitching's book is the compliment he pays to Johnson by so lavishly quoting from the Dictionary' -- Sunday Telegraph 20060501 'Hitchings has written a lively and appetite-whetting biography of the great book itself...one of the most fascinating and influential literary endeavours in the history of English literature' -- Herald 20060501 'Henry Hitchings' book on Samuel Johnson's mighty Dictionary is so good, so apposite, so chewy and edible, that I felt as if I were rereading it on my first pass' -- Will Self, New Statesman 20060501 'Hugely entertaining, it's a real treat for word lovers' -- Sainsburys Magazine 20060501 'The author is to be congratulated on narrating the drudgery of the dictionary's compilation so engagingly' -- Evening Standard 20060501 'The author has followed ably in the footsteps of his subject, producing a witty and learned book on a man whose work shaped, and continues to shape, the way we speak and think' -- The Good Book Guide 20060501 'An extraordinary read' -- Venue 20051202 'This is a delightful book about an extraordinary man. I suspect Dr Johnson himself would have approved... and there's no greater praise than that' -- John Humphrys 20051202 'A lively and appetite-whetting biography of the great book' -- Herald 20050402 'Henry Hitchings's book is lively, erudite and enriched with colourful anecdotes - a masterful account of one of the greatest literary triumphs of the eighteenth century' -- Giles Milton 20041221 'Engaging' -- Literary Review 20050401 'This is a delightful book about an extraordinary man. I suspect Dr Johnson himself would have approved ... and there's no greater praise than that' -- John Humphreys 20050401

'Hitchings offers us a highly entertaining guided tour...anyone interested in dictionaries, Dr Johnson or the English language will surely spend many happy hours with this book' -- The Independent 20050415 'Ingenious and fascinating' -- The Sunday Times 20050327 'Excellent.' -- Daily Express 20050401 'Immensely enjoyable, easily erudite' -- Scotland On Sunday 20050403 'I can warmly recommend Henry Hitching's book...affectionate in its portrayal of Johnson, the book itself is immensely likeable, written with serious intent and gentle good humour.' -- Spectator 20050409 'Lively and entertaining' -- Observer 20050424 'A pleasant stroll, with a genial guide, through Johnson's life' -- The Independent on Sunday 20050417 'Clever, wittily-written and amusingly-arranged' -- The Guardian 20050416 'A rich, lively and attractive book.' -- The Times Literary Supplement 20050415 'Hitchings writes with Johnsonian clarity and verve ... This is a charming book' -- Evening Standard 20050418 'A clever, sympathetic and witty sketch of both man and book.' -- Waterstones Books Quarterly 20060401 'A goldmine of pleasures...Hitchings has an infectious relish for words' - Phil Baker -- Sunday Times 20060423 'Full of elegance and nail-on-the-head wit' -- Sunday Telegraph 20060416 'Hitchings has produced an absorbing account of Johnson's Dictionary that is as likeable as it is learned' -- Independent 20060428 'Full of serendipitous felicities' -- Times Higher Education Supplement 20060421 'Hitchings excellent book is both a great potted guide to the dictionary and its creation, and a marvellous biography of Johnson...A must-have for devotees of the English Language' -- Observer 20060410 'Excellent... Hitching's book is full of serendipitous felicities' -- David Nokes, Times Higher Educational Supplement 20060421 'In [Johnson's] description of dull he writes: Not exhilarating; not delightful; as, to make dictionaries is dull work. Nobody could describe Hitching's book as dull' -- Colin Waters, Sunday Herald 20060507 'This story is a pleasurable stroll through Johnson's life, and combines elements of biography with social history and an examination of Johnson's concerns, illustrated by examples from the great work itself.' -- Irish Times 20060520 'Memorable passages on a range of fascinating subjects.' -- The Good Book Guide 20060501 'An engaging profile of one of London's great characters' -- Time Out, Tom Howard 20060501 'Henry Hitchings (a fine 18th-century name that) is a remarkable young scholar of the age of Johnson, and his DR JOHNSON'S DICTIONARY, arranged alphabetically like the eponymous original whose 250th anniversary it celebrates, offers an entertaining window on this most fascinating character and his times' -- BBC History Magazine 20060501 'Entertaining study...The great strength of Hitching's book is the compliment he pays to Johnson by so lavishly quoting from the Dictionary' -- Sunday Telegraph 20060501 'Hitchings has written a lively and appetite-whetting biography of the great book itself...one of the most fascinating and influential literary endeavours in the history of English literature' -- Herald 20060501 'Henry Hitchings' book on Samuel Johnson's mighty Dictionary is so good, so apposite, so chewy and edible, that I felt as if I were rereading it on my first pass' -- Will Self, New Statesman 20060501 'Hugely entertaining, it's a real treat for word lovers' -- Sainsburys Magazine 20060501 'The author is to be congratulated on narrating the drudgery of the dictionary's compilation so engagingly' -- Evening Standard 20060501 'The author has followed ably in the footsteps of his subject, producing a witty and learned book on a man whose work shaped, and continues to shape, the way we speak and think' -- The Good Book Guide 20060501 'An extraordinary read' -- Venue 20051202 'This is a delightful book about an extraordinary man. I suspect Dr Johnson himself would have approved... and there's no greater praise than that' -- John Humphrys 20051202 'A lively and appetite-whetting biography of the great book' -- Herald 20050402 'Henry Hitchings's book is lively, erudite and enriched with colourful anecdotes - a masterful account of one of the greatest literary triumphs of the eighteenth century' -- Giles Milton 20041221 'Engaging' -- Literary Review 20050401 'This is a delightful book about an extraordinary man. I suspect Dr Johnson himself would have approved ... and there's no greater praise than that' -- John Humphreys 20050401

Author Information

Henry Hitchings was born in 1974. Educated at the universities of Oxford and London, he is the author of Dr Johnson's Dictionary and has contributed to many newspapers and magazines.

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