Bookish Words & Their Surprising Stories by Crystal, David

Bookish Words & Their Surprising Stories

Travel through time with words that have shaped the trajectory of the English language across centuries. The...
$38.42 AUD
$38.42 AUD
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Author: David Crystal
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Subtotal: $38.42

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Bookish Words & Their Surprising Stories by Crystal, David

Bookish Words & Their Surprising Stories

$38.42

Bookish Words & Their Surprising Stories

$38.42
Author: David Crystal
Format: Hardcover
Language: English

Travel through time with words that have shaped the trajectory of the English language across centuries.

The world of books has played a striking role in the history of English vocabulary. "Book" itself is one of the oldest words in the language, originating from "boc" in Old English, and appears in many commonly used expressions today, including by the book, bring to book, and bookworm, to name a few.

With the arrival of printing and typesetting, and the development of the newspaper industry came terminology that birthed commonly used phrases such as "stop the press," "front-page news," and "hit the headlines." The emergence of the internet generated even more.

This anthology presents a selection of more than one hundred words that show the influence of writing, reading, and publishing books on our everyday vocabulary over the centuries, telling the stories behind their linguistic origins and uncovering some surprising twists in the development of their meaning through time.



Author: David Crystal
Publisher: Bodleian Library
Published: 06/20/2025
Pages: 176
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.65lbs
Size: 7.40h x 4.90w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9781851246519


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 05/01/2025 pg. 109

About the Author
David Crystal is a writer, editor, lecturer, broadcaster on language, and an honorary professor of linguistics at Bangor University, UK. His many books include The Cambridge Encyclopedia of English Language and A Date with Language, the latter also published by the Bodleian Library. You may find his website at davidcrystal.com.

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