Over the centuries, innumerable English words have drifted from their original purposes and acquired vastly different meanings - some subtle and others not so.
Author Jeffrey Kacirk, a man intrigued by words, has sifted through mountains of discarded meanings to arrive at almost 1,500 entries in this fascinating romp through the ever-changing world of lexicography. As he puts it, his goal is to "leave the reader with a sense of where many modern usages may have come from, or in some cases have strayed, whether we choose to think of the changes as corruptions or improvements."
Study the altered meanings in this erudite but fun book and you'll be able to "razzle-dazzle" (originally, a daylong drinking bout) your friends and acquaintances. So indulge your fancy for linguistic "escapades" (no longer the plunging and rearing of a horse). The mind-expanding enjoyment of exhuming these forgotten meanings will "manure" (to enrich the mind) your personal lexicon.
Altered English: Surprising Meanings of Familiar Words
In association with Amazon.com
by: Jeffrey Kacirk
Release Date: April, 2002, Media: Hardcover
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Reader Comments
From a Columnist
"Kacirk has collected current words and provided earlier definitions and their sources ... alphabetically, beginning with abandon ('to banish, to drive away' -- John Phin, 1902) and ending with a zig-zag ('drunk' -- Edward Fraser and John Gibbons, 1925). Kacirk's book is a flip-through find, perfect for everyone from lay word nerds to top-dollar scholars."--Dave Ford, San Francisco Chronicle
Approximately 1,500 original and archaic definitions
Altered English: Surprise Meanings Of Familiar Words by ongoing contributor to the "Oxford English Dictionary" Jeffrey Kacirck, is a fascinating compilation of approximately 1,500 original and archaic definitions of familiar and contemporary words. Altered English: Surprise Meanings Of Familiar Words is a simply amazing reference that is pure fun to page through and packed from cover to cover with amusing surprises!
For example, the original meaning of "landowner" was: A dead man; from his occupation of his grave. A common colloquialism for a man killed on the Western Front was 'a landowner in France. (Edward Fraser and John Gibbons, 1925)." If you have a fondness for complexity, richness, and surprises of the English language, then Altered English: Surprise Meanings Of Familiar Words is the book for you!
