John Ayto

The average English speaker knows 50,000 words in contemporary use - 25 more words than there are stars in the night sky visible to the naked eye. Yet stripped down to its origins, this apparently huge vocabulary is in reality a much smaller number of words from Latin, French and the Germanic languages. It is estimated that every year, 800 neologisms are added to the English language: acronyms - 'yuppie', blended words - 'motel', and those taken from foreign languages - 'savoir-faire'. The Bloomsbury Dictionary of Word Origins provides a concise history of over 8,000 of the most commonly used words.… (more)

It is impossible to imagine there is anyone who loves books who does not also love words. Often words seem to have a life of their own, not just something to emphasize another word but an entity to itself. When reading a history or historical novel a word will stand out on the page causing questions to arise: Does that word belong in the period? Does it mean what I think the author implied? Why does it catch my eye? This book does not provide all the answers, but at least allows me to place the word back on page where it belongs.… (more)