The secret life of words : how English became English

Words are essential to our everyday lives. An average person spends his or her day enveloped in conversations, e-mails, phone calls, text messages, directions, headlines, & more. But how often do we stop to think about the origins of the words we use? Have you ever thought about which words in English have been borrowed from Arabic, Dutch, or Portuguese? Try admiral, landscape, & marmalade, just for starters. The Secret Life of Words is a wide-ranging account not only of the history of English language & vocabulary, but also of how words witness history, reflect social change, & remind us of our past. Henry Hitchings delves into the insatiable, ever-changing English language & reveals how & why it has absorbed words from more than 350 other languages—many originating from the most unlikely of places, such as shampoo from Hindi & kiosk from Turkish. From the Norman Conquest to the present day, Hitchings narrates the story of English as a living archive of our human experience. He uncovers the secrets behind everyday words & explores the surprising origins of our most commonplace expressions. The Secret Life of Words is a rich, lively celebration of the language & vocabulary that we too often take for granted.Henry Hitchings is an award-winning writer, reviewer & critic. He has written for the Guardian, London Review of Books, TLS, Financial Times & New Statesman, & is currently the Evening Standard‘s theatre critic. He is the author of several acclaimed books on language, literature & culture, including Dr. Johnson’s Dictionary, How to Really Talk About Books You Haven’t Read & The Language Wars. In 2008, he was shortlisted for the title of Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year, & in the same year his book The Secret Life of Words won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize & the Somerset Maugham Award.

an economist Book Of The Year

the Secret Life Of Words is A Wide-ranging Account Of The Transplanted, Stolen, Bastardized Words We've Come To Know As The English Languag. It's A History Of English As A Whole, And Of The Thousands Of Individual Words, From More Than 350 Foreign Tongues, That Trickled In Gradually Over Hundreds Of Years Of Trade, Colonization, And Diplomacy. Henry Hitchings Narrates The Story From The Norman Conquest To The Present Day, Chronicling The English Language As A Living Archive Of Human Experience.

a Sample Of The Thousands Of Stories Behind The Words:

• Alcatraz Island Was Named By A Spanish Explorer Who Arrived In 1775 To Find The Island Covered With Pelicans, Or alcatraces. And Alcatraces? The Word Goes Back To The Arabic al-qadus, Which Was A Bucket Used In Irrigation That Resembled The Bucket Beaks Of Pelicans.

• What Does A Walnut Have To Do With Walls? The Word Comes From The Old English Walhnutu, Meaning Foreign Nut. They Were Originally Grown In Italy And Imported, And The Northern Europeans Named Them To Distinguish Them From The Native Hazelnut.

• A Crayfish Is Not A Fish. The Name Comes From The Old French Word crevice, Through The Old German crebiz and The Modern French ecrevisse. The Fish Part Is Just The Result Of A Mishearing.

the Secret Life Of Words is A Wide-ranging Chronicle Of How Words Witness History, Reflect Social Change, And Remind Us Of Our Past.

kirkus Reviews

hitchings, Who Wrote Earlier About Samuel Johnson's Dictionary (defining The World, 2005), Again Displays His Astonishing Knowledge Of The English Language's Myriad Roots. English Has Been And No Doubt Always Will Be A Salmagundi, The Author Declares, Blending Words From Many Other Tongues Into One Splendid, Ever-changing Linguistic Dish. It's Vocabulary That Interests Him Here-grammar Is Far More Resistant To Change, He Notes-and After Some Factual Table-setting (approximately 350 Languages Have Contributed To English) He Serves His Main Courses One Century At A Time. Hitchings Effortlessly Blends World History With Linguistic History, Helping Us See That We Appropriate Words For Numerous Reasons: Trade, Conquest, Fashion, Food, Art And So On. The Anglo-saxons, We Learn, Had More Than 30 Words For Warrior. From Arabic We Gained Words For Alchemy That Then Migrated Into Math And Science, Such As Zero And Cipher. Chaucer, The Author Writes, Was A Literary Magpie Who Liberated The Language. The Rise Of The Printing Press Ignited Another Vocabulary Explosion. In The 16th Century, English Conflicts With Spain Brought An Influx Of Spanish Words, Among Them Armada, Hammock And Mosquito. Shakespeare Is The First Known User Of Some 1,700 Words. From The New World Came Potato And Tobacco; Capt. John Smith Was The First To Use Adrift And Roomy. Greek, Avers Hitchings, Has Remained A Source Of High-culture (even Highfalutin) Words Like Deipnosophist And Pathos. Many French Words Deal With Culture, Leisure And Food (no Surprise There); Soiree First Appeared In The Fiction Of Fanny Burney. The British Occupation Of India Brought The Words Teapot, Curry And Pajamas. In Later Days, Advertising,mass Media, The Internet And The Global Village Have All Accelerated The Growth And Spread Of English. Hitchings Notes In Several Places The Impossibility And Undesirability Of Attempting To Close And Bar The Doors Of This Eternally Flexible And Omnivorous Tongue. Learned, Wise And Educative, Though A Bit Weighty For The Average Nightstand.

Words are essential to our everyday lives. An average person spends his or her day enveloped in conversations, e-mails, phone calls, text messages, directions, headlines, and more. But how often do we stop to think about the origins of the words we use? Have you ever thought about which words in English have been borrowed from Arabic, Dutch, or Portuguese? Try admiral, landscape, and marmalade, just for starters.

The Secret Life of Words is a wide-ranging account not only of the history of English language and vocabulary, but also of how words witness history, reflect social change, and remind us of our past. Henry Hitchings delves into the insatiable, ever-changing English language and reveals how and why it has absorbed words from more than 350 other languages—many originating from the most unlikely of places, such as shampoo from Hindi and kiosk from Turkish. From the Norman Conquest to the present day, Hitchings narrates the story of English as a living archive of our human experience. He uncovers the secrets behind everyday words and explores the surprising origins of our most commonplace expressions. The Secret Life of Words is a rich, lively celebration of the language and vocabulary that we too often take for granted.

"The Secret Life of Words is a wide-ranging account not only of the history of English language and vocabulary, but also of how words witness history, reflect social change, and remind us of our past. Henry Hitchings delves into the insatiable, ever-changing English language and reveals how and why it has absorbed words from more than 350 other languages - many originating from the most unlikely of places, such as shampoo from Hindi and kiosk from Turkish. From the Norman Conquest to the present day, Hitchings narrates the story of English as a living archive of our human experience. He uncovers the secrets behind everyday words and explores the surprising origins of our most commonplace expressions. The Secret Life of Words is a rich, lively celebration of the language and vocabulary that we too often take for granted."--Jacket Examines the origins of the English language, and traces history back to understand how it adopted words from more than three hundred and fifty other languages, the secrets behind everyday words and expressions, and other related topics Traces the history of English language and vocabulary, revealing hidden etymologies that show key social changes and how English has absorbed words from hundreds of other languages.