Devious Derivations: Popular Misconceptions-And More Than 1,000 True Origins of Common Words and Phrases

by Hugh Rawson

Brings together some 1,000 picturesque but spurious folk etymologies, those logical but mistaken explanations of the derivations of words and phrases. "A valuable reference and a great delight to read....On the average you'll be astounded twice per page."—Martin Gardner

Genres: Reference, Language, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[HopeF · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a fun walk through the tangled possible histories of some words and phrases.

[Jrobertus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love this stuff. although it is not for everyone. Basically this is about the etymology of words. There are clearly lots of false stories about the origin of many popular words, and a big take home lesson here is that many are so complex that even scholars are not sure. The first written use of words is often a key, but often time words have been in use and may have mutated long before they are written down. A false interpretation of foreign words is also a common source for English. Great fun.

[josie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable for any word lover, but not a must-have. Curiously, it is a book about wrong derivations, not right ones.