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Word Origins Books
Showing 1-14 of 14
Useless Etymology: Offbeat Word Origins for Curious Minds (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as word-origins)
avg rating 4.28 — 237 ratings — published 2025
Chambers Dictionary of Etymology (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as word-origins)
avg rating 4.50 — 111 ratings — published 1988
Babel: Around the World in Twenty Languages (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as word-origins)
avg rating 3.79 — 4,220 ratings — published 2018
The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll through the Hidden Connections of the English Language (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as word-origins)
avg rating 4.23 — 12,554 ratings — published 2011
Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as word-origins)
avg rating 4.37 — 43 ratings — published 1958
This Is Not a Weasel : A Close Look at Nature's Most Confusing Terms (Library Binding)
by (shelved 1 time as word-origins)
avg rating 3.48 — 23 ratings — published 2003
The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way (Paperback)
by (shelved 1 time as word-origins)
avg rating 3.91 — 44,403 ratings — published 1990
Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States (Paperback)
by (shelved 1 time as word-origins)
avg rating 3.92 — 16,072 ratings — published 1994
The Painted Word: A Treasure Chest of Remarkable Words and Their Origins (Paperback)
by (shelved 1 time as word-origins)
avg rating 3.49 — 177 ratings — published 2012
The Word Detective: Solving the Mysteries Behind Those Pesky Words and Phrases (Paperback)
by (shelved 1 time as word-origins)
avg rating 3.73 — 96 ratings — published 2000
Alphabetter Juice or, The Joy of Text (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as word-origins)
avg rating 3.48 — 236 ratings — published 2011
Anonyponymous: The Forgotten People Behind Everyday Words (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as word-origins)
avg rating 3.53 — 421 ratings — published 2009
Alphabet Juice: The Energies, Gists, and Spirits of Letters, Words, and Combinations Thereof; Their Roots, Bones, Innards, Piths, Pips, and Secret Parts, Tinctures, Tonics, and Essences; With Examples of Their Usage Foul and Savory (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as word-origins)
avg rating 3.62 — 882 ratings — published 2008
Sticklers, Sideburns and Bikinis: The Military Origin of Everyday Words and Phrases (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1 time as word-origins)
avg rating 3.76 — 42 ratings — published 2008
“_Vacuum tubes_ are known as _valves_ in England. This is based on the fact that they can be used to control the flow of electricity, similar in concept to the way in which their mechanical namesakes are used to control the flow of fluids.”
― Bebop to the Boolean Boogie: An Unconventional Guide to Electronics
― Bebop to the Boolean Boogie: An Unconventional Guide to Electronics
“The bad angels were the jinn, and the good angels were the jinn too, and we spoke to them both in the desert. In Arabic, jinn has the same root as the word for paradise, jenna. The word for jinn and the word for paradise both have the same root as the word for madness, junun. To be close to the jinn is to be close to madness, is to be even closer to paradise.”
― Sonora
― Sonora
