Description: Altered English Surprising Meaningsof Familiar Words byJeffrey Kacirk 8BBBBBBBBBBBB8 Rohnert Park, CA, USA: published by Pomegranate Communications, 2002. Hardcover. 8 x 6 in. 240 pages. Includes black & white illustrations. Condition: very good. This is a lovely clean, bright copy with no markings at all. 8BBBBBBBBBBBB8 Over the centuries, innumerable English words have drifted from their original purposes and acquired vastly different meanings -- some subtle and others not so. This process is a continuous one, as can be seen in today's word "bad," whose meaning is now its own opposite: "great." As another example, consider England 500 years ago. Then, "improve" meant "to make progress in that which is evil." And there was no romantic "tryst" with a man or woman; then the word meant "a fair for black cattle, horses, and sheep"! Author Jeffrey Kacirk, a man intrigued by words, has sifted through mountains of discarded meanings to arrive at almost 1,500 entries in this fascinating romp through the ever-changing world of lexicography. As he puts it, his goal is to "leave the reader with a sense of where many modern usages may have come from, or in some cases have strayed, whether we choose to think of the changes as corruptions or improvements."Study the altered meanings in this erudite but full book and you'll be able to "razzle-dazzle" (originally, a daylong drinking bout) your friends and acquaintances. So indulge your fancy for linguistic "escapades" (no longer the plunging and rearing of a horse). The mind-expanding enjoyment of exhuming these forgotten meanings will "manure" (to enrich the mind) your personal lexicon.
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Restocking fee: No
Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer
Returns Accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 30 Days
Topic: English Language, Archaisms, Dictionaries
Format: Hardcover
Publication Year: 2002
Language: English
Publisher: Pomegranate Communications
Special Attributes: Dust Jacket
Author: n/a
Book Title: n/a
