Overview

"An old joke goes like this: What's the difference between a good girl and a nice girl? Answer: The good girl goes to a party, goes home, then goes to bed, whereas the nice girl goes to the party, goes to bed, then goes home. While we think of ""nice"" nowadays as being a synonym for ""pleasant"" it was not always so; originally the word's meaning conveyed the naughtiness implied in the joke. It was not until the middle of the 18th century that ""nice"" conveyed the sense of pleasantness that we now associate with the word. In this book Richler educates and entertains us while explaining how words such as ""nice"" and ""gay"" have changed meanings. Surprisingly, we discover that even many of our nouns and verbs have been in a constant state of flux. For example, ""jeopardy"" was originally a term used in chess, and ""to fizzle"" meant ""to break wind silently"". This morphing of meanings is ever-present, and Richler explains how, even in the last few years, words such as ""fulsome"" have been quietly reversing their meanings. So whether you are gay (happy), gay homosexual) or a melancholy heterosexual, Richler will lead you into a word world of entertaining change."

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9781553802303

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Howard Richler is a life-time logophile who has served as a language columnist for several newspapers and magazines. He is presently working on three new books about language: an analysis of English language wit; a col-lection of word puzzles; and a book for children exploring the magic of word origins. He makes his home in Montreal.

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