Words Worth:
An Etymological Celebration

Christine Amber

Fighting Words: From War, Rebellion and Other Combative Capers.
Paragon, 1989.

Isaac Asimov

Words From History.
HM, 1968.

J. G. Barton

Word Master.
S&S, 2003.

Dorothy Rose Blumbery

Whose What? Aaron's Beard to Zorn's Lemur.
HRW, 1969.

William F. Buckley, Jr.

The Lexicon.
HB, 1998.

Charles Harrington Elster

What in the Word?: Wordplay, Word Lore & Answers to Your Peskiest Questions About Language.
Harvest, 2005.

Willard R. Espy

  • A Game of Words.
    G&D, 1972.
  • An Almanac of Words at Play.
    Potter, 1975.
  • O Thou Improper, Thou Uncommon Noun: A Bob-tailed, Generally Chronological Listing of Proper Names That Have Improper and Uncommonly Common, Together With a Smattering of Proper Names Commonly Used...And Certain Other Diversions.
    Potter, 1978.
  • Another Almanac of Words at Play.
    Potter, 1980.
  • Have a Word on Me: A Celebration of Language.
    S&S, 1981.
  • A Garden of Eloquence: A Rhetorical Bestiary.
    H&R, 1983.

    • Robert Hatwell Fiske

    The Dimwit's Dictionary: 5,000 Overused Words & Phrases & Alternatives to Them.
    Marion St. Press, 2002.

    Lewis Burke Frumkes

    The Logophite's Orgy: Favorite Words of Famous People.
    Delacorte, 1995.

    Charles Earle Funk

  • Thereby Hangs a Tale: Stories of Curious Word Origins.
    H&R, 1985, 1950.
  • Heaven's to Betsy! and Other Curious Sayings.

    Charles Earle Funk & Charles E. Funk, Jr.

    Horsefeathers, and Other Curious Words.
    H&R, 1958.

    Wilfred Funk

    Word Origins and Their Romantic Stories.
    F&W, 1950.

    Webb B. Garrison

    What's In A Word?
    Abingdon, 1965.

    Selma Glasser

    The Analogy Book of Related Words: Your Secret Shortcut to Power Writing.
    Comm. Creativity, 1990.

    Stephen Glazier

    The Random House Word Menu.
    RH, 1992.

    Philip Gooden

    Faux Pas?: A No-Nosense Guide to Words and Phrases from Other Langauges.
    Walker, 2004.

    Jack Hitt

    In A Word: A Dictionary of Words That Don't Exist, But Ought To.
    Laurel, 1992.

    J. N. Hook

    The Grand Panjandrum & 1,999 Rare Other Rare, Useful & Delightful Words and Expressions.
    Macmillan, 1980.

    R. W. Jackson

    You Say To Ma To: An Amusing and Irreverent Guide to the Most Often Mispronounced Words in the English Language.
    Thunder's Mouth, 2005..

    Adam Jacot de Boinod

    The Meaning of Tingo and Other Extraordinary Words from Around the World.
    Penguin, 2006.

    Richard Lederer

  • Anguished English: An Anthology of Accidental Assaults Upon Our Language.
    Wyrick, 1987.
  • Get Thee to a Punnery.
    Pocket, 1988.
  • Crazy English.
    Pocket, 1989.
  • The Play of Words.
    Pocket, 1990.
  • The Miracle of Language.
    Pocket, 1991.
  • More Anguished English.
    Delacorte, 1993.
  • Adventures of a Verbivore.
    Pocket, 1994.
  • Sleeping Dogs Don't Lay.
    St. Martin's, 1999.
  • The Bride of Anguished English.
    St. Martin's, 2000.
  • A Man of My Words.
    St. Martin's, 2003.

    • Eugene T. Maleska

    A Pleasure in Words.
    S&S, 1981.

    Anatoly Liberman

    Word Origins: And How We KNow Them.
    Oxofrd UP, 2005.

    Mitford M. Mathews

    American Words.
    C&W, 1976.

    Paul McFedries

    Word Spy: The Word Lovers Guide to Modern Culture.
    Broadway, 2004.

    Erin McKean (ed.)

    Weird & WOnderful Words.
    OUP, 2003, 2002.

    John H. McWhorter

    Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language & Music & Why We Should, Like, Care.
    Gotham, 2003.

    Allan A. Metcalf

    The World in So Many Words: A Country-By-Country Tour of Words that Have Shaped Our Language.
    HM, 1999.

    Evan Morris

    The Word Detective.
    Algonquin, 2000.

    Rosemarie Ostler

    Dewdroppers, Waldos & Slackers: A Decade-by-Decade Guide to the Vanishing Vocabulary of the 20th Century.
    OUP, 2003.

    Eric Partridge

  • Adventuring Among Words.
    Books for Libraries, 1972, 1961.
  • Eric Partridge in His Own Words.
    Macmillan, 1980.

    • Michael Quinion

    Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words & Their Origins.
    Smithsonian, 2004.

    Nigel Rees

    Why Do We Say...? Words and Sayings and Where They Come From.
    Blanford, 1987.

    William Safire

  • On Language.
    Times, 1980.
  • What's the Good Word?
    Times, 1982.
  • I Stand Corrected: More On Language.
    Times, 1984.
  • Take My Word for It: More On Language.
    Times, 1986.
  • You Could Look It Up: More On Language.
    Times, 1988.
  • Fumblerules: A Lighthearted Guide to Grammar and Good Usage.
    Doubleday, 1990.
  • Language Maven Strikes Again.
    Doubleday, 1990.
  • Coming to Terms.
    Doubleday, 1991.
  • Quoth the Maven.
    RH, 1993.
  • In Love With Norma Loquendi.
    RH, 1994.
  • Watching My Language: Advice in the Word Trade.
    RH, 1997.
  • Spread the Word.
    Times, 1999.
  • Let a Simile Be Your Umbrella
    Crown, 2001.
  • No Uncertain Terms
    S&S, 2003.
  • The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time.
    S&S, 2004.

    • Bill Severn

    Place Words.
    Washburn, 1969.

    Jessie Shiedlower

    Jessie's Word of the Day: From Abacinate to Yonic.
    Random, 1998.

    Susan Kelz Sperling

    Tenderfeet & Landyfingers: A Visceral Approach to Words and Their Origins.
    Viking, 1981.

    Lynne Tross

    Eats, Shoots, and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation.
    Gotham, 2004.

    Marilyn Vos Savant

    The Art of Spelling: The Madness and the Method.
    Norton, 2000.

    Ruth Wajnryb

    Expletive Deleted $&#@*!: A Good Look at Bad Language.
    Free Press, 2005.

    Barbara Wallraff

    Word Court: Wherein Verbal Virtue is Rewarded, Crimes Against the Language are Punished, and the Poetic Justice is Done.
    Harcourt, 2000.

    Raymond William

    Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture & Society.
    Oxford, 1985, 1983.

    Paul West

    The Secret Lives of Words.
    HB, 2000.

    Created and maintained by: Lynne M. Kennedy.

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