Semantic Antics: How and Why Words Change Meaning

About this book

"My favorite popular word book of the year" -William Safire NY Times 6/22/2008 A fun new approach to examining etymology! Many common English words started out with an entirely different meaning than the one we know today. For example: The word adamant came into English around 855 C.E. as a synonym for diamond very different from todays meaning of the word: "utterly unyielding in attitude or opinion." Before the year 1200 the word silly meant "blessed " and was derived from Old English saelig meaning "happy." This word went through several incarnations before adopting todays meaning: "stupid or foolish." In Semantic Antics lexicographer Sol Steinmetz takes readers on an in-depth fascinating journey to learn how hundreds of words have evolved from their first meaning to the meanings used today.