by David Wilton
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Product Description
Do you believe that Ring Around the Rosie refers to the Black Death? Or that Eskimos have 50 (or 500) words for "snow"? Or that "Posh" is an acronym for "Port Out, Starboard Home"? If so, you badly need this book. In Word Myths, David Wilton debunks some of the most spectacularly wrong word histories in common usage, giving us the real stories behind many linguistic urban legends.
Readers will discover the true history behind such popular words and expressions such as "rule of thumb," "the whole nine yards," "hot dog," "raining cats and dogs," "chew the fat," "AWOL," "under the weather," "in like Flynn," "Dixie," "son of a gun," "tinker's damn," and many more. We learn that SOS was not originally an acronym for "Save Our Ship" or "Save Our Souls," but was chosen because the morse code signal (3 dots, 3 dashes, 3 dots) was easy to send and recognize. Also, "let the cat out of the bag" does not refer to the whip (the "cat") used to punish sailors aboard ship. The term "upset" (to defeat unexpectedly) does not date from the horse race when the heavily favored Man O' War was beaten by a nag named Upset (Upset was the only horse ever to defeat Man O' War, but the word predates the race by half a century). And Thomas Crapper did not invent the flush toilet, nor do the words "crap" or "crapper" derive from his name.
As Wilton quashes these word myths, he offers us the best of both worlds: not only do we learn the many wrong stories behind these words, we also learn why and how they were created--and what the real story is. "Think 'hot dog' was coined by a New York baseball vendor, or that a certain vulgarity originated as an acronym? Then you need to read this book, which shows that some of the best etymological stories are just tall tales." --Chicago Tribune (10 Best Books About Language, 2004)
"Most everything you know about word and phrase origins is likely to be wrong, and David Wilton proves it with a light touch and a wealth of fascinating case histories. Absolutely everyone with an interest in language will love this book." --J.E. Lighter, Editor, Historical Dictionary of American Slang
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
 word myths david wilton, 2007-05-11
very hard reading!!!! could not separate myth from truth.......
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
 Linguistic Urban Legends Debunked, 2007-04-05
Have you heard that Eskimos have 500 words for "snow"? What does the international distress signal "SOS" mean? Do you know what an "aptronym" is? Have you noticed that some nautical enthusiasts attribute a maritime origin to nearly every word or phrase? This observation prompted one participant of an online discussion group to use the acronym "CANOE" to mean the "Conspiracy to Attribute Nautical Origins to Everything"! You'll discover that many etymologies you thought you "knew," you really didn't know at all. This little 200-page book was just great fun and most enlightening to read. I've referred to it often in my university communication classes -- a great resource for anyone interested in the origins and use of English words and phrases -- well researched and well written. Kudos to author David Wilton!
16 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
Awful book- don't waste your time., 2007-02-26
I'm pursuing a Master's degree in Language and Literature. One of our assignments was to find an unusual linguistic book. I found this book at Borders and thought it would be great.... I was wrong.
This book, at first glance, looks to be a fun little trivia book on language myths. I studied urban legends for my undergrad in cultural studies; this book should have been right up my alley. Instead, I found myself laughing out loud at the poor rationalizations for debunking myths. I was actually offended by the poor sentence structure, unfortunate grammar usage, and sloppy research. Note to David Wilton: a dictionary and a Google search do NOT equal extensive or scholarly research! And fire your editor.
Wilton's analytical skills leave a lot to be desired, and it is obvious that he has not taken many writing classes. This book can BY NO MEANS be used as a scholarly source. If you have 2 minutes to kill, maybe this book is worth glancing at, but avoid it for anything more substantial. And don't believe what you read; the research is even sloppier than the writing.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
A lively read, 2007-01-23
Wilton has a lively writing style, his research is impeccable, and his choice of topics is interesting. I particularly liked the article on which the clever cover is based. He is the author also of A Way With Words, an electronic newsletter that presents linguistic facts and debunks factoids, a word probably related to truthiness, a recent entry.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Interesting and funny, 2006-11-09
It is rare for a book about language to be both informative and entertaining. This is a light read, with content broken up into easily-digested bites, yet it manages to be smart and instructive. Some of the myths in the book are ones I've heard debunked before, but it was still worthwhile to read about them because Wilton provided details and documentation...and best of all, he takes a subject that many people find stuffy and dry, and makes it fun.
Some readers may be irritated by the dead-end etymologies. Personally, I appreciate honest scholars. Wilton acknowledges that it is sometimes impossible to be certain of a word's etymology, and refuses to state "likely" or "probable" origins of words or phrases as fact.
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