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How and Why Words Change Meaning
Random House
April 2008
On Sale: March 25, 2008
288 pages ISBN: 0375426124 EAN: 9780375426124 Trade Size
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Non-Fiction
A fun, new approach to examining
etymology!
Many common English words started out
with an entirely different meaning than the one we know
today. For example:
The word adamant
came into English around 855 C.E. as a synonym for
'diamond,' very different from today's meaning of the
word: "utterly unyielding in attitude or
opinion."
Before the year 1200, the word
silly meant "blessed," and was derived from
Old English saelig, meaning "happy." This word went
through several incarnations before adopting today's
meaning: "stupid or foolish."
In Semantic
Antics, lexicographer Sol Steinmetz takes readers on an
in-depth, fascinating journey to learn how hundreds of words
have evolved from their first meaning to the meanings used
today.
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