This book is, I believe, the longest collection of word and
phrase origins in print.
In any case, I’ve tried to make all the selections as accurate
and entertaining as possible and tried to use words illustrating
all of the many ways words and phrases are born
(words deriving from the numerous languages and dialects
that have enriched En glish, echoic words, coined words,
slang, words from the names of places, people, animals, occupations,
leisure activities, mispronunciations, etc.). Yet in
the fi nal analysis any selection from such a vast semantic
trea sure house (the 5–10 million or so general and technical
En glish words) must be highly subjective. Perhaps I have
erred in devoting too much space to fascinating but speculative
stories about word origins, but I don’t think so, for the
wildest theories oft en later turn out to be the correct ones.
In any case, while no good tale is omitted merely because it
isn’t true, where stories are apocryphal or doubtful, they are
clearly labeled so. I’ve tried to include as many plausible
theories about the origins of each expression as possible and
also attempted to show the fi rst recorded use of a word or
phrase wherever possible, something lacking in many word
books but a great, sometimes indispensable, help to anyone
using the work as a linguistic or historical reference.