Thereby Hangs a Tale

by Charles Earle Funk

From “mad as a wet hen” to “corn dodger” and “hobgoblin,” Charles Funk’s collections of curious words and expressions are a treasure trove of word origin.
In a language where hearse and rehearse have the same root and the word dunce comes from a great philosopher, English has hundreds of everyday words that originated or acquired their meanings in unusual ways. Dictionaries don’t have the space to tell us all the mysteries but now Dr. Funk, with humor and insight, tells us the strange and intriguing stories of hundreds of words and how they came to be a part of our language.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Language, Trivia, History, Linguistics, Writing

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

Charles Earle Funk (1881–1957) was an American lexicographer.[1][2][3] He was a member of the Funk family who owned the publisher Funk & Wagnalls; Dr. Isaac Funk was his uncle.[4]

Funk wrote several etymological dictionaries, including Thereby Hangs a Tale: Stories of Curious Word Origins, A Hog On Ice & Other Curious Expressions, Heavens To Betsy & Other Curious Expressions, Horsefeathers and Other Curious Words, and 2107 Curious Word Origins, Sayings & Expressions: From White Elephants to Song & Dance.

Reviews

[Sarah B · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I found this book quite fascinating although not all of the entries were to my appeal. The words in here cover a huge variety of subjects and many were words I had never even heard of before. There were also words that I had thought meant one thing but the entry had a totally different meaning all together so that was a tad confusing...but I was ok with it.

The most startling entry to me was found in the little blurb about the word "cabbage". It was the word "caput". My mother and grandmother would often use this word. But I have learned over the many long years that my grandmother had used what I call "made up words" - words other people had never heard of! So I never had any idea were these actually foreign words she had learned from her parents (who had been immigrants) or were they half-remembered words or did she just create them? Well low and behold here was one of those weird words!! And to my shock it is in LATIN! How in the world did she learn a Latin word? And when I say Latin I mean old Rome and the church, not Latin America as in Spanish. Anyway the word means "head". She would use the caput word as in referring to something breaking or falling apart. And it makes me think of that saying of "something coming to a head". I think I see a sort of relation there? I mean that phrase means something is going bad doesn't it?

And this brings me to a thought that popped into my head while reading this...Does anyone speak Latin anymore? Apparently it is a "dead language" although the church still uses it and clearly scientists use it too. And I do remember learning a song in Latin back in middle school for this big bicentennial event down at the arena. I still remember the words! And that was back in the 80s! It makes me very curious about trying to learn Latin somehow...

And I had found many horse related words in here too and the stories about those words. I went to the ranch today to ride George and I had told the others about the word "canter". Apparently people traveling to see the bones of this famous dead man (sounds very weird, huh, but apparently it was very popular back then) would travel at a certain speed on horseback. And it was in Canterbury. So they named the gait of the horse the canter. So this is one example of the kinds of little stories you'll find in this book. The dead man, by the way, was Thomas A. Becket who had been an archbishop in 1170. This is just one of the horse related words in here. Another for example is "constable" which means "master of the horse". "Desultory" is another horse word and refers to expert equestrians who were performing in a circus type show - it means "to leap". And not just any leaping but to leap from the back of one moving horse to another! And they would do this with incredible ease!

But this book covers all sorts of subjects so no doubt there will be things of interests to you in here. Fabric, metal, all sorts of stuff and way too many for me to remember or list. Lots of little tidbits from history in here. And the stories about each word made it fun and fascinating. I never knew what I would find on the next page or on the next entry.

But many words came about through misunderstanding or mis-hearing the word. Or sometimes a 'shortcut' was used for a longer word. "Cab" is one of those words. To me it is an easy to remember example. I mean who ever heard of a cabriolet? Not me! I wouldn't even know how to pronounce that.

And I must say some of these entries had me laughing! I had actually found them funny! I guess I just thought how some people had mangled these words was hilarious. But I quickly got used to the idea and then it wasn't funny anymore..

Of course reading this book can sometimes raise more questions than it answers if you have a curious mind. Like one entry mentioned "pig iron". Well what does metal have to do with a pig? No idea! And the book does not say. Which is a tad disappointing.

Did you know that noon used to be 3pm? The days of the week are in here too and the months (well, not all of them)...

The book has an index at the back too. Very handy!

[Sally Bozzuto · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is by THE FUNK of Funk and Wagnall's! If you want to bring in the noise AND the funk, you should check this book out because it has the etymology of over 1,000 English words. Though mainly a reference book you could probably sit and read it cover to cover if you have a curiosity about words and word origins. My only criticism would be that sometimes the author will go on for a paragraph or two about a story behind a word only to reveal that it comes from some other word "of unknown origin" and many of the "tales" don't go into much depth beyond x came from y or the French version of y, etc. But to me the most fascinating word-stories are the ones which show the relation of words to other words in English. For example, did you know that the words fun, fond and fondle all come from the same root word, fon from Middle English? Or that the words gregarious, aggregate, segregate, congregate and egregious all come from Latin terms that have to do with herds of livestock? This book explores these things and more. Pretty fun and interesting.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Among other interesting things, I found out why Fenrir the werewolf in Harry Potter is named such. It's the name of a wolf monster in Norse mythology. Why such random trivia fascinates me, I do not know, but now I do know that trivia comes from "tri via", 3 roads.

[May Ling · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read it and found it both informative and painful. I have an earlier version, so possibly his later version has better edits. My main issue is the writing itself. Funk, while possibly a knowledgeable guy is a subpar story teller. I found myself desperately wanting to grab him by the sides of the arms and scream.... get to the point! Possibly the most boring paragraph ever written for the etymology of 1000 words. His ability to add the irrelevant to stretch out descriptions of the relevant is mind blowing.

Some descriptions start with all of the origins that are NOT correct, some of which are just stupid origins. My version must pre-date the existence of mandatory editors!

Anyway, if you can get past that, the actual information is interesting and in time he does actually get to the heart of what the word means.

[Apryl Anderson]

Fun book! I'm fascinated by history and words and histories of words, so this is my cup of tea. Not the sort of thing I'd read with a cup of tea, though. Rather more suited to inspiring a writer or passing moments in the toilet. Useful in either case....

[Thannasset · Rating 4 out of 5]

That I can't be alone in liking this stuff-here's a whole book about it!

[Janell Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a bit like reading a dictionary, but I enjoyed reading a couple pages at a time for a daily dose of interesting, concise history on word origins.

[Lyra Del · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good, informative I guess, but ought you should be knowing enough understand some of texts written in the book. :)

[Steven Burgauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Curious is an understatement. What about delightful? Great book.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

A etymological romp of the highest degree!