Devious Derivations: Popular Misconceptions and More Than 1000 True Origins of Common Words and Phrases Book

In this marvelously entertaining book, word maven Hugh Rawson rounds up 1,000 words and phrases whose origins are not what you might expect. Some wiseacre (the word has nothing to do with land measure) may have told you that a tip is given to a waiter "to insure promptness," or that S.O.S. stands for "Save Our Ship," or that hooker is a tribute to the character of Joseph Hooker, the Civil War general. Like hundreds of popular etymologies, these oft-repeated accounts are just too good to be true. Now Mr. Rawson punctures the myths, gives the real derivations, and along the way provides many insights into how language works."There is no more avid, intrepid, and skilled word hunter at work today than Hugh Rawson. In Devious Derivations, he cuts through the tangle of confusing word origins and helps us discover who we are and whence we came."-- Richard Lederer, "Looking at Language""This volume should take a place alongside that old favorite, Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable -- close to the dining room table where they both can be turned to whenever mealtimes dissolve into etymological arguments." -- Washington Post Book World"Hugh Rawson made a lot of literary friends with his previous Wicked Words (if you missed it, find a copy quick) and his newest foray into the English language is an absolute delight, the fruits of a learned man who has a gleam in his eye." -- Coast Book Review ServiceHugh Rawson is the author of Wicked Words and A Dictionary of Euphemisms and Other Doubletalk. He is a member of The Authors Guild, and is Director of Penguin Reference Books.Read More