The Dord, the Diglot, and an Avocado or Two
By Anu Garg
(Plume, Paperback, 9780452288614, 192pp.)
Publication Date: November 2007
Categories: Etymology
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From the creator of the popular A.Word.A.Day e-mail newsletter
A collection of some of the most interesting stories and fascinating origins behind more than 300 words, names, and terms by the founder of WordSmith.org.
Did you know:
There's a word for the pleasant smell that accompanies the first rain after a dry spell? Petrichor, combining petros (Greek for stone) and ichor (the fluid that flows in the veins of Greek gods).
An illeist is one who refers to oneself in the third person.
There's a word for feigning lack of interest in something while actually desiring it: accismus.
For any aspiring deipnosophist (a good conversationalist at meals) or devoted Philomath (a lover of learning), this anthology of entertaining etymology is an ideal way to have fun while getting smarter.
ANU GARG is the founder of Wordsmith.org, an online community of word lovers from 200 countries, now in its thirteenth year. He is also the creator of the A.Word.A.Day e-mail newsletter with more than 600,000 subscribers, and the author of the books A Word A Day and Another Word A Day.
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Miles from Nowhere Nami Mun Riverhead |
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American Buffalo Steven Rinella Spiegel & Grau |
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The Piano Teacher Janice Y. K. Lee Viking |
