Overview

What is a gallimaufry anyway? And when did you last hear someone refer to the wireless? What was the original paraphernalia? Would you wear a billycock? Language is always changing, and here Michael Quinion, author of the bestselling POSH and other language myths , has gathered together some fascinating examples of words and meanings which have vanished from our language. Sometimes a word is lost when the thing it describes becomes obsolete, sometimes it survives in a figurative sense while the original meaning is lost, and sometimes it simply gives way to a more popular alternative. The story of these and many other words opens a window into the lives of past speakers of the English language.

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9780198610625

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Michael Quinion, word scholar par excellence, provides an entertaining and informative look at many wonderful words and phrases that have mostly gone by the boards. --Daniel Boice, Catholic Library World<br>

<br> Michael Quinion, word scholar par excellence, provides an entertaining and informative look at many wonderful words and phrases that have mostly gone by the boards. --Daniel Boice, Catholic Library World<br>

Author Information

Michael Quinion is a professional writer who has written widely on the English language. He was a co-author of the second edition of the Oxford Dictionary of New Words and the author of Ologies and Isms. He also manages and writes for his own web site World Wide Words, launched in 1997.

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