Bookish Words & their Surprising Stories

 Bookish Words & their Surprising Stories

Reviewed By  Grasshopper2       April 10, 2025

 

Author  David Crystal

Distributor:      New South Books
ISBN:                 9781851246519
Publisher:         Bodleian Library
Release Date:   10 April 2025  

Website:    https://newsouthbooks.com.au/books/bookish-words-their-surprising-stories/#:~:text=This%20anthology%20presents%20a%20selection,of%20their%20meaning%20through%20time. 

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If you are a lover of words, their origins and meanings, this small book with a big title, is for you. David Crystal is a professor of linguistics at Bangor University. The anthology that he has compiled shows the way words have shaped our writing and reading over the centuries.

He tells the story behind these 100 words and idioms, and uncovers many surprises relating to how meanings have changed. Each entry shows the stages of influence and linguistic origins, and the development is traced over time.

 When Romeo first kisses Juliet, she says “You kiss by the’ book.”  She means he kisses expertly as if following a set of instructions. Today, we refer to things that have been done in a specific way as “By the Book.”  Someone who never does things by the book is considered a free spirit.

 Deadline. This word was used as a boundary line. Prisoners risked being shot if they crossed the boundary line. It was first used in the mid 1800’s to mean motionless, such as a fishing line.

At the end of the fascinating wander through words and idioms, there is a section on further reading which mentions other books and authors who collect words and their usages. Following that there is an index of the words examined.

Bookish Words & Their Surprising Meanings is a meticulously detailed compilation.

Literature, Non Fiction