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Word myths : debunking linguistic urban legends / David Wilton ; illustrated by Ivan Brunetti.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Wilton, David, 1963-
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- English language--Etymology.
- English language.
- Language and languages--Folklore.
- Language and languages.
- Folklore.
- Physical Description:
- x, 221 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm
- Place of Publication:
- Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2004.
- Summary:
- Wilton debunks the most persistently wrong word histories and gives the real stories behind perennial mis-etymologized words.
- Contents:
- What Is a Linguistic Urban Legend? 2
- Where Do They Come From? 3
- How Do They Vary? 6
- Why Do We Tell Them? 7
- How Are They Told? 10
- Who Tells Them? 14
- Are We Being Spoilsports? 14
- How Do We Ferret Out the Truth? 16
- 1 Debunking the Big Boys 23
- Ring Around the Rosie 24
- OK 28
- The Whole Nine Yards 34
- Rule of Thumb 38
- They Speak Elizabethan English in the Appalachians 44
- 500 Eskimo Words for Snow 50
- Windy City 54
- Hot Dog 58
- 2 The Elizabethan E-mail Hoax 61
- Throw the Baby Out with the Bathwater 66
- Raining Cats and Dogs 67
- Dirt Poor 69
- Threshold 70
- Pease Porridge 70
- Bring Home the Bacon 72
- Chew the Fat 72
- Trencher / Trench Mouth 72
- Bed and Board 73
- Upper Crust 74
- Wake 74
- Graveyard Shift 75
- Saved by the Bell and Dead Ringer 76
- 3 Posh, Phat Pommies 79
- Ichthys 83
- Cabal 83
- AWOL 84
- Fuck 87
- News and Tips 92
- Golf 93
- Spud 94
- Wog 95
- Nylon 96
- SOS 97
- Pommy 98
- Phat 99
- Posh 100
- 4 Canoe 103
- Devil to Pay 104
- Let the Cat Out of the Bag 104
- Cold Enough to Freeze the Balls off a Brass Monkey 106
- Over a Barrel 108
- Mind Your Ps and Qs 108
- Under the Weather 111
- Knock Off 112
- Son of a Gun 112
- Railroad Origins 113
- Balling the Jack 113
- Balls to the Wall 114
- Ethnic Origins 115
- Lynch 115
- Jazz 116
- America 123
- 5 Hookers, Harlots, and Condoms 129
- Hooker 130
- Harlot 131
- Condom 133
- Crap 137
- In Like Flynn 139
- Real McCoy 141
- Dixie 145
- Upset 148
- Pumpernickel 150
- Ellis Island Name Changing 151
- 6 The Perils of Political Correctness 155
- Picnic 157
- Nitty Gritty 159
- Jimmies 160
- Indian / In Dios 163
- Indian Giver 166
- Squaw 168
- Hip / Hep 170
- Gay 172
- Faggot 175
- Handicap 177
- Politically Correct 179
- Tinker's Damn 182
- 7 Wax Tadpoles and Jelly Doughnuts 185
- I Am a Jelly Doughnut 186
- Chevy No Go 188
- Bite the Wax Tadpole 190
- Turn It Loose and Fly Naked 193
- Kangaroo 195
- Gringo 196.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 201-218) and index.
- ISBN:
- 0195172841
- OCLC:
- 54767339
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