Three centuries of English idioms—their unusual origins and
unexpected interpretations To pay through the nose. Raining cats
and dogs. By hook or by crook. Curry favor. Drink like a fish. Eat
crow. We hear such phrases every day, but this book is the first
truly all-encompassing etymological guide to both their meanings
and origins. Spanning more than three centuries, Take My Word for
It is a fascinating, one-of-a-kind window into the surprisingly
short history of idioms in English. Widely known for his studies of
word origins, Anatoly Liberman explains more than one thousand
idioms, both popular and obscure, occurring in both American and
British standard English and including many regional expressions.
The origins, and even the precise meaning, of most idioms are often
obscure and lost in history. Based on a critical analysis of
countless conjectures, with exact, in-depth references (rare in the
literature on the subject), Take My Word for It provides not only a
large corpus of idiomatic phrases but also a vast bibliography.
Detailed indexes and a thesaurus make the content accessible at a
glance, and Liberman’s introduction and conclusion add historical
dimensions. The result of decades of research by a leading
authority, this book is both instructive and absorbing for scholars
and general readers, who won’t find another resource as
comparable in scope or based on data even remotely as exhaustive.
General
Imprint: |
University of Minnesota Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
December 2022 |
First published: |
2022 |
Authors: |
Anatoly Liberman
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 178 x 13mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback
|
Pages: |
328 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-5179-1412-7 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
1-5179-1412-4 |
Barcode: |
9781517914127 |
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