Word Nerd: More than 17,000 Fascinating Facts about WordsAre You a Word Nerd? Did you know... Only a human (not an animal or thing) is "able" to do something The five on dice is called cinque "K" for strike-out in baseball comes from the last letter of "struck" To skice is to frisk about like squirrels in spring For word lovers everywhere, Word Nerd is a rich—and fun—compendium of more than 17,000 fascinating facts about words. Bestselling author Barbara Anne Kipfer has spent years compiling little known tidbits about common—and not so common—words in the English language. Filled with interesting information about words, sure to amaze and spark conversation, this incredible collection is perfect for the word nerd in each of us. |
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Common terms and phrases
abbreviation adjective adjective form adjective meaning Algonquian ancient animal Arabic back to Latin back-formation base meaning based on Greek based on Latin became bird blend body borrowed bread called century cloth coined color comes from French comes from German comes from Greek comes from Latin comes from Old derives from Greek derives from Latin describe dictionary diminutive drink Dutch early sense especially etymologically folk etymology French word fruit Germanic base goes back hair horse implies Indo-European base Indo-European root Italian language Latin base Latin elements Latin meaning Latin word meaning letter literally means means pertaining Middle Dutch Middle English noun Old English Old French Old Norse once meant one's onym original sense originally meant originally referred person phrase piece plant plural probably pronounced Proto-Germanic Roman Sanskrit shortened slang someone sound Spanish spelling synonym term thing tion traces back tree ultimately variant verb wine