Authorisms: Words Wrought By Writers

Author: Paul Dickson

Stock information

General Fields

  • : $15.00 NZD
  • : 9781620405406
  • : Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
  • : Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
  • :
  • : 3.793
  • : July 2014
  • : 210mm X 140mm
  • : United States
  • : 24.99
  • : July 2014
  • :
  • :
  • : books

Special Fields

  • :
  • :
  • : Paul Dickson
  • :
  • : Hardback
  • : 1
  • :
  • :
  • : 427
  • :
  • :
  • : 240
  • :
  • : B&W t/o
  • :
  • :
  • :
  • :
  • :
  • :
Barcode 9781620405406
9781620405406

Description

William Shakespeare's written vocabulary consisted of 17,245 words, including hundreds that were coined or popularized by him. Some of the words never went further than their appearance in his plays, but others-like bedazzled, hurry, critical, and anchovy-are essential parts of our standard vocabulary today. Many other famous and lesser-known writers have contributed to the popular lexicon. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Sir Walter Scott ranks second to Shakespeare in first uses of words and giving a new and distinct meaning to already existing words (Free Lances for freelancers). John Milton minted such terms as earthshaking, lovelorn, by hook or crook, and all Hell broke loose, and was responsible for introducing some 630 words. Gifted lexicographer Paul Dickson deftly sorts through neologisms by Chaucer (a ha), Jane Austen (base ball), Louisa May Alcott (co-ed), Mark Twain (hard-boiled), Kurt Vonnegut (granfalloon), John le Carre (mole), William Gibson (cyberspace), and many others. Presenting stories behind each word and phrase, Dickson enriches our appreciation of the English language in a book as entertaining as it is enlightening.

Promotion info

An entertaining, illuminating lexicography of words coined by authors throughout the ages, published on the "sesquiquadricentennial" (450th anniversary) of Shakespeare's birth.

Reviews

Thoroughly enjoyable. -- Steven Levingston The Washington Post (Words from the White House) Entertaining and informative...guaranteed to grab our attention. -- John R. Coyne, Jr. The Washington Times (Words from the White House) I love this! Mika Brzezinski on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" (Words from the White House) Many of the phrases in Dickson's book are tied forever to certain moments in history ... Once Harding used the phrase, 'Founding Fathers' seemed to have been always with us. The Christian Science Monitor on WORDS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE A compendious, entertaining look at our nation's leaders through words and turns of phrase. Kirkus Reviews (Words from the White House)

Author description

Paul Dickson has written a dozen word books and dictionaries, including Words from the White House, The Dickson Baseball Dictionary, and Slang. An occasional contributor to the late William Safire's On Language column in the New York Times, Dickson has coined several words of his own, including "demonym" (term that describes a person geographically, as in a New Yorker). He lives in Garrett Park, Maryland.