Weeds in the garden of words : further observations on the tangled history of the English language /
Burridge, Kate,
Weeds in the garden of words : further observations on the tangled history of the English language / Kate Burridge. - ix, 196 pages ; 23 cm
Includes bibliographical references (pages 186-190) and index.
Introduction to the weedy traits of the English language -- Our lexical weeds : the world of jargon, slang and euphemism -- More lexical weeds : word origins and meaning shifts -- Our grammatical weeds -- Weeds in our sounds and spelling -- The truly nasty weeds of the English language? -- W(h)ither our weeds?
"If the English language is a glorious garden, filled with exotic hybrids and the continuing tradition of heritage specimens, then it is no surprise that we will also find some weeds. Linguistic weeds may have pronunciations we don't want or constructions that are out of place. We may be trying to hold on to words and usage we should perhaps have said farewell to. But as all gardeners know, what one gardener calls a 'weed', another may call a 'flower'. The some goes for words and their usage in English - sometimes we just haven't realized their virtues."--BOOK JACKET.
0521853133 9780521853132 0521618231 9780521618236
2006540303
English language--Etymology
English language--History
English language--Terms and phrases
English language--Usage
PE1574 / .B87 2005
428
Weeds in the garden of words : further observations on the tangled history of the English language / Kate Burridge. - ix, 196 pages ; 23 cm
Includes bibliographical references (pages 186-190) and index.
Introduction to the weedy traits of the English language -- Our lexical weeds : the world of jargon, slang and euphemism -- More lexical weeds : word origins and meaning shifts -- Our grammatical weeds -- Weeds in our sounds and spelling -- The truly nasty weeds of the English language? -- W(h)ither our weeds?
"If the English language is a glorious garden, filled with exotic hybrids and the continuing tradition of heritage specimens, then it is no surprise that we will also find some weeds. Linguistic weeds may have pronunciations we don't want or constructions that are out of place. We may be trying to hold on to words and usage we should perhaps have said farewell to. But as all gardeners know, what one gardener calls a 'weed', another may call a 'flower'. The some goes for words and their usage in English - sometimes we just haven't realized their virtues."--BOOK JACKET.
0521853133 9780521853132 0521618231 9780521618236
2006540303
English language--Etymology
English language--History
English language--Terms and phrases
English language--Usage
PE1574 / .B87 2005
428