Bagels, Bumf, and Buses, Simon Horobin
Bagels, Bumf, and Buses, Simon Horobin
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Bagels, Bumf, and Buses
A Day in the Life of the English Language

Author: Simon Horobin

Narrator: Shaun Grindell

Unabridged: 7 hr 1 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 04/14/2020

Synopsis

Where do our everyday words come from? The bagel you eat for breakfast, the bumf you have to wade through at the office, and the bus that takes you home again: we use these words without thinking about their origins or how their meanings have changed over time. Simon Horobin takes the listener on a journey through a typical day, showing how the words we use to describe routine activities—getting up, going to work, eating meals—have surprisingly fascinating histories.

About Simon Horobin

Simon Horobin is Professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Magdalen College. He has written extensively on the history, structure, and uses of the English language. He is the author of How English Became English, Does Spelling Matter?, and books on the history of English, and the language of Chaucer.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Lisa

Bagels, Bumf, & Buses is a read for the word nerd. And not for those who just love having a large vocabulary, but for those deeply interested in etymology. The book is very factual, very informative, chock-full of English word history—not, mind you, that of English language—organized into chapters a......more

Goodreads review by Greg

For fans of words only. This is a very dense collection of novel words, interesting etymologies, and some surprising relationships. I liked the structure of exploring words as you might (or might have) encounter them throughout the day, but the density of knowledge coming at you is pretty overwhelmi......more

Goodreads review by Dave

Clever and entertaining on a word-nerd level - digestible in a couple of chapters at a time setting. Best served with another novel on the side. While Simon made this text as humorous as possible, there is just so much to digest. His preface about his family asking for the 'Short Answer' rings true,......more

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