In a Word: 750 Words and Their Fascinating Stories and Origins

By Rosalie Baker

What's in a word? A lot, as IN A WORD tells us Words travel through time and evolve---taking on new characteristics, new meanings, and providing fascinating tales of people, places, and times long ago. Each entry of IN A WORD tells its tale in a witty short-story style, often accompanied by fun illustrations. Though several of the entries in the book provide the kind of linguistic details found in the finest dictionaries, IN A WORD's lively, anecdotal style makes it more entertaining than a traditional reference book. It's a perfect addition to any family home, or as a gift. The book also comes with a language chart and index. With an introduction by a linguistics scholar.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812627105
• ISBN13: 9780812627107
• Release Date: December 2003
• Publisher: Cricket Books
• Length: 250 Pages
• Weight: 1.18 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 7.3" x 9.2"
• Age Range: 9 to 16 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 11

Customer Reviews

Cute book, but...

This book is a pleasure to pick up and browse: informative, well-written, and filled with clever drawings. It's useful for students and teachers alike, but -- and I don't mean to nitpick -- it's by no means definitive. Readers should be aware of alternative attributions before they announce these etymologies to their friends or pupils. For instance, the author, Rosalie Baker, claims that the name for Africa originated from the Latin word "aprica," meaning "sunny," as if this were a settled matter. But it's only one of many possible origins; numerous alternative theories point to North African tribes and languages for the word's derivation. The same thing happens to "ketchup," which Baker claims is Malaysian in origin. But it may well have come from Chinese, Arabic, or other languages. The author traces the etymology of "arctic" to the Greek words for the constellation Ursa Major. However, because Polaris, the North Star, is in Ursa Minor, this constellation may also be the source of the word. This caveat aside, there are a lot of fun and interesting tidbits of geographic, cultural, and historical knowledge to be gleaned from the book.

A fun read, interesting

This book is fun to read. It has lots of interesting historical info. Good for teachers.