The Hidden History of Coined Words

I think I made it about 100 pages into this book. That's my traditional marker to decide whether to move forward or not to finish a book. I just remember Ralph stating time and time again that it's impossible to know the true coinage of words, and he would suggest he could have done more research. T......more

Delightful look at coined words I loved this book. The writing is excellent and the book was hard to put down. I especially liked that Ralph Keyes gives great backgrounds to the coined words, including historical context. There is enough detail to understand the context, but never too much, so the bo......more

One presumes that those who read care about words. Certainly those who write do - or ought to; I once encountered online a character who claimed to be a writer, but insisted that what he meant in a particular instance was the exact opposite of what he'd actually written. I both read and write, even......more

Interested in the subject doesn’t mean it will be an interesting book. However it is chock full of anecdotes and factoids (a coined word) but not much cohesion across the whole book. You might learn some facts, even a lot, but not about the actual subject or coinage.......more

Was there ever a book so learned, and so entertaining? Never, in my view. Ralph Keyes has opened my eyes to hundreds of words that I use, or at least recognize, without ever thinking of them as inventions. But coined they were. Do you want to know where munchkin came from, and bunkum, mugwump, Saran......more