by Mary Varchaver (Author), Frank Ledlie Moore (Author), Gorton Carruth (Foreword by)
""Kudos (Greek), encomiums (Latin), and accolades (French) to the authors for their enlightening and amusing lexicon, a testament that English is the most cheerfully democratic and hospitable language ever cobbled together.""-Richard Lederer, author of The Miracle of Language From angst to zydeco, the ultimate guide to foreign terms and phrases This handy, practical, and browsable A-to-Z reference tells you all you need to know to understand, pronounce, and appreciate the nearly 2,000 foreign words and phrases commonly used by speakers and writers of English. The Browser's Dictionary covers a wide variety of subject areas and includes loan-words from more than sixty languages around the world, such as: Latin (desideratum) * the romance languages (rapprochement, macho, imbroglio) * German (gestalt) * Russian (gulag) * Hebrew (shibboleth) * Yiddish (shtick) * Persian (tambura) * Hindi (purdah) * Arabic (loofah) * Hawaiian (kanaka) * Creole French (zydeco) * and Japanese (netsuke) In addition, each entry provides: * A guide to pronunciation using easy-to-understand transcriptions from ordinary English * Comprehensive literal and idiomatic definitions * The word's source language, as well as its literal meaning The Browser's Dictionary of Foreign Words and Phrases is sure to become a favorite reference for anyone with an interest in words and language.
Front Jacket
A tour de force of exotica sure to interest the word-conscious epicure. Bon appetit!-Jeffrey Kacirk, author of The Word Museum and Forgotten English
English is not only the most widely spoken language in the world, it is also the most dynamic. And one of the chief sources of its enormous vitality is the many foreign words and phrases, from armoire and ayatollah to cabriolet and knish, that continually enrich it. Containing selections that reflect our everyday discourse and illuminate the words and phrases we come across in the newspapers or on television, The Browser's Dictionary of Foreign Words and Phrases is an A-to-Z compendium of the thousands of loanwords currently used in English speech and writing.
With almost 2,000 entries from over sixty languages, this unique reference is a globetrotting tour through the unusually exotic and surprisingly familiar foreign words that have entered English usage. Featuring recent additions to the language as well as older words whose current usage may have changed over time, The Browser's Dictionary makes pronunciation easy by avoiding complex phonetic symbols and offers hundreds of example sentences to show how these words are used. Each entry also includes a simple, comprehensive definition, etymology, and, wherever possible, the fascinating story of how it managed to find its way into English.
As absorbing as it is informative, here is the ultimate guide for writers, editors, and word lovers of every ilk.
Back Jacket
Kudos (Greek), encomiums (Latin), and accolades (French) to the authors for their enlightening and amusing lexicon, a testament that English is the most cheerfully democratic and hospitable language ever cobbled together.""-Richard Lederer, author of The Miracle of Language
From angst to zydeco, the ultimate guide to foreign terms and phrases
This handy, practical, and browsable A-to-Z reference tells you all you need to know to understand, pronounce, and appreciate the nearly 2,000 foreign words and phrases commonly used by speakers and writers of English. The Browser's Dictionary covers a wide variety of subject areas and includes loan-words from more than sixty languages around the world, such as:
Latin (desideratum) - the romance languages (rapprochement, macho, imbroglio) - German (gestalt) - Russian (gulag) - Hebrew (shibboleth) - Yiddish (shtick) - Persian (tambura) - Hindi (purdah) - Arabic (loofah) - Hawaiian (kanaka) - Creole French (zydeco) - and Japanese (netsuke)
In addition, each entry provides:
- A guide to pronunciation using easy-to-understand transcriptions from ordinary English
- Comprehensive literal and idiomatic definitions
- The word's source language, as well as its literal meaning
The Browser's Dictionary of Foreign Words and Phrases is sure to become a favorite reference for anyone with an interest in words and language.
Author Biography
MARY VARCHAVER is a freelance writer, researcher, and editor, living in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. She is also the coauthor, along with FRANK LEDLIE MOORE, of The Dictionary of the Performing Arts.