T here is a surprisingly large number of books out there about the origin of words in the English language. In tracing the stories of individual terms, one might hope to study the wider development of language and literature more generally—as Owen Barfield argues in his History in English Words —or simply uncover humorous quirks of folk culture. Here, we’ve compiled a brief list of etymology books flagged up by our expert interviewees, and added a few notable nonfiction books aimed at the lay librocubicularist* for good measure.
“He’s partly an etymological scholar, but he also has a very sympathetic imagination. He explores the ways in which the histories of particular words can reveal changes in the ways that humans experience the world. Flowing all the way through the book is a very grand vision of the evolution of consciousness. It’s not a long book but in some ways it’s quite daunting because it’s so erudite. It would now, I’m sure, be dismissed for not having scholarly rigour but it actually does have that, as well as a very idiosyncratic approach. He looks at particular words—electric, garden and quality, say. He looks at how the meanings of those words have changed and what that says about the past.” Read more...
The best books on Language
Henry Hitchings ,
Linguist
This humorous yet rigorous compendium of English words and their (perhaps unexpectedly) exciting etymologies was a surprise bestseller on first publication in 2011. The Independent summarised it as "witty and erudite, and stuffed with the kind of arcane information that nobody strictly needs to know, but which is a pleasure to learn nonetheless."
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“OK, not for the budget-conscious. But this magnificent dictionary tells the history of every word it defines (including obsolete meanings), and cites classic written sources for those definitions. If you’re in a dispute and someone tells you ‘singular ‘they” is a modern, politically correct abomination, look it up. You’ll find citations going back to 1375 from one great author after another, and the point is yours. Figurative ‘literally’? Look it up. ‘Whose’ can’t be used with an inanimate object? This is a dictionary whose authority and evidence will prove otherwise.” Read more...
Grammar Books That Prove What They Preach
Lane Greene ,
Journalist
“The quotations for the dictionary were sent in by members of the public. W.C. Minor was a member of the public, but he just happened to be a murderer who was banged up in Broadmoor. Dr Minor was clearly insane, and one part of his mind was unhinged. He was convinced that he was being spirited off to Constantinople every night. But another part of his mind was perfectly capable of reading books and writing out quotations for the dictionary in a useful, intellectual way, and he did that for many years. Because of the obsessive quality of Dr Minor’s work, the quotations he supplied were really useful, and it makes a great story.” Read more...
The best books on The Oxford English Dictionary
Peter Gilliver ,
Literary Scholar
“This is a great one for showcasing the variety of swearing and all the circumstances you can use this one word. It starts with “absofuckinglutely” and ends with “zipless fuck,” and in the middle has “dumbfuck,” “frig,” “unfuckable”—so many great words. He’s done this excellent research, so you can see the dates when they were all first used, with quotes.” Read more...
The best books on Swearing
Melissa Mohr ,
Linguist
“Partridge begins by offering a discussion of the linguistic phenomenon that is slang. Then he puts forward his own opinion on the etymology of the word ‘slang,’ and suggests what constitutes a slang word – he gives 17 qualifications – as opposed to a colloquial or standard English one. He follows these theoretical chapters by a succession of chronological ones, in which he lays out both the major slang lexicographers from the 16th century onwards and the authors who up until the date of his writing had made the greatest contribution to the recording of slang vocabulary.” Read more...
The best books on Slang
Jonathon Green ,
Literary Scholar
“To start with, it’s the right size. It fits in my hand. It’s a thick book, it’s got 1,300 pages, even more. But it’s book-sized—and it’s got every word I’ve looked up. It’s also got etymologies, which I think are important because I like to know where the words that I use have come from. It’s interesting. It’s got everything you need in the way of pronunciation guides. It’s scattered with little jokes too, like this. ‘Éclair: a cake long in shape, but short in duration.’” Read more...
Favourite Books
Philip Pullman ,
Children's Author
Critic and language expert Henry Hitchings followed up his acclaimed first book about Samuel Johnson's dictionary (Defining the World Kirkus described it as "learned, wise and educative, though a bit weighty for the average nightstand."
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A fun and funny gift book by Susie Dent, the lexicographer and etymology expert for the cult British game show Countdown, aimed at the popular market. Word Perfect is a collection of 365 words and their origins, in a bitesize format.
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