Nike, Nurses and Neon: The Ancient Greek and Latin Words We Use Every Day

by Nigel Brown

Did you know that porpoise means “pig fish” and that hippopotamus translates as “river horse?” Or that the name George comes from the word “farmer,” and that Rupert means “firm as a rock?” From the icons on computer monitors to words in everyday speech, English is heavily rooted in words adopted from the ancient Greeks and Romans. This insightful and entertaining study investigates just how far Greek and Latin still pervade modern culture and language, along the way revealing a veritable cornucopia of quirky trivia and little-known facts. Perfect for language lovers and fans of antiquity alike, this is an engaging and funny look at the roots of modern English.

354 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2008

Reviews

[Hibiscus · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very non-critical explanatory dictionary with tons of trivial entries well known and easily parsable even by the laymen. Some gluing narrative is put in between to entertain the tired reader. I feel this book was not intended to be read linearly but rather opened on random pages.

I discovered a few dozen new terms worth knowing. The roman thermae lexicon was particularly delighting. Soon, though, I noticed a lot of factual mistakes such as claiming that the Vatican is one of the seven hills. Yet other etymologies were anecdotic or frivolously cherry-picked from among other candidates. So I had to occasionally browse the words myself to verify them.

I'd rather it have fewer entries and instead elaborate on those with an interesting story behind them such as nicotine and deus ex machina.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating roots of many everyday words, humorous, informative.

[Morganta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Хороший список заимствованных из греческого языка и латыни слов.

[LemontreeLime · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book of bits and words. Fun.

[Fliss Bridgwater · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book - not just for the subject content, but also because the author includes little anecdotes about his life, linking them spuriously to the topic at hand - I don't know the age of the author, but imagine him as a slightly absent minded Grandad - full of the most amazing, fascinating information, but with a slight tendency to veer off the subject!

I am overjoyed that Mr Brown's editors did not remove these pearls - I think the book itself, whilst interesting, would have been poorer for their loss.

[Bohdan Shtepan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Неплохая книга, но перевод ужасный. Я уже молчу о бредовых фантазиях переводчика во вступительной части, где он пишет о выдумках вроде «тысячелетней истории России». А потом в следующей же главе переводит «gerundive» как «герундиЙ», когда там должен быть «герундив». Уникальнейшее явление латыни и лингвистики вообще похоронено под банальной профнепригодностью и бездарностью переводчика.