Around the World in 80 Words: A Journey Through the English Language

Description

'Brilliant for anyone interested in the effervescent oddness of English' --Stig Abell on Word Drops What makes a place so memorable that it survives for ever in a word? In this captivating round-the-world jaunt, Paul Anthony Jones reveals the intriguing tales behind how 80 different places came to be immortalised in our language. Beginning in London and heading through Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, the Americas, then back to London again, each chapter leads into the next like a travelogue. As well as the origins of turkeys, brazil nuts, limericks and Panama hats, there's the story of how a small Czech village gave us the word dollar; how a tiny hamlet in Nottinghamshire became Gotham City; how an island with more bears than people gave us hooch; and how Stellenbosch, a South African town, became a verb meaning to demote someone on the sly. Our dictionaries are full of hidden histories, tales and adventures from all over the world - if you know where to look. Beautifully designed, consistently entertaining and ideal for dipping into, Around the World in 80 Words is the perfect gift: a whimsical voyage through the far-flung reaches of the English language.

Paul Anthony Jones is something of a linguistic phenomenon. He runs the popular @HaggardHawks Twitter feed, blog and YouTube channel, revealing daily word facts to 60,000 engaged followers. His books include: Word Drops: A Sprinkling of Linguistic Curiosities (E&T, 2015), The Accidental Dictionary (E&T, 2016), The Cabinet of Linguistic Curiosities (E&T, 2017), Around the World in 80 Words (E&T, 2018), as well as several other books on trivia and language. He appears regularly in the media and has contributed to the Oxford and Cambridge dictionaries online. He is also a piano teacher and musician, and lives in Newcastle upon Tyne.