"A brash, enlightening, and wildly entertaining feminist look at gendered language and the way it shapes us..."--From dust jacket, front flap.

Introduces the mysteries and lore of modern-day English, explaining the origins and history of various words and phrases, including "bamboozle," "cut the mustard," "I could care less," and "cocktail."

Collects 101 popular idioms and sayings and explains their origins and how their usage has changed over time. "Like many people, you've probably used idioms or phrases like these without giving them a second thought. But if you were to take a moment to step back and learn about them you'll be pleasantly surprised to discover the mesmerizing and sometimes outright bizarre origins to these fun sayings! In Why Do We Say That, we have curated 101 of...

Did you know that coconut derives from the Spanish and Portuguesecoco for 'grinning face'? Or that giraffes used to be called camelopards? Or thatwalrus has its origin in Dutch, meaning 'whale horse'. The Little Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins includes 1,000 word histories arranged across 100 wide-ranging themes, fromfood to phobias, from the universe tolove. Featuring words with interesting or surprising origins, it is an irresistible collection...

The ultimate collection of everything you never knew about the wonderful phrases found in the English language. Includes phrase history and etymology; unusual, lost, or uncommon phrases; how phrases are formed; and more than 7,000 facts about common English phrases.

Contains the meaning of more than 10,000 popular and traditional names for boys and girls.