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Title details for Haggard Hawks and Paltry Poltroons by Paul Anthony Jones - Available

Haggard Hawks and Paltry Poltroons

by Paul Anthony Jones
ebook
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What do the following ten words all have in common - haggard, mews, codger, arouse, musket, poltroon, gorge, allure, pounce and turn-tail? All fairly familiar and straightforward words, after a little digging into their histories it turns out that all of them derive from falconry: the adjective haggard described an adult falcon captured from the wild; mews were the enclosures hawks were kept in whilst moulting; codger is thought to come from 'cadger', the member of a hunting party who carried the birds' perches, and so on.This, essentially, is what Ten Words is all about - the book collects together hundreds of the most intriguing, surprising and little known histories and etymologies of a whole host of English words. From ancient place names to unusual languages, and obscure professions to military slang, this is a fascinating treasure trove of linguistic facts.

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Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group

OverDrive Read

  • ISBN: 9781472109415
  • Release date: October 17, 2013

EPUB ebook

  • ISBN: 9781472109415
  • File size: 693 KB
  • Release date: October 17, 2013

Formats

OverDrive Read
EPUB ebook

subjects

Language Arts Nonfiction Humor (Nonfiction)

Languages

English

What do the following ten words all have in common - haggard, mews, codger, arouse, musket, poltroon, gorge, allure, pounce and turn-tail? All fairly familiar and straightforward words, after a little digging into their histories it turns out that all of them derive from falconry: the adjective haggard described an adult falcon captured from the wild; mews were the enclosures hawks were kept in whilst moulting; codger is thought to come from 'cadger', the member of a hunting party who carried the birds' perches, and so on.This, essentially, is what Ten Words is all about - the book collects together hundreds of the most intriguing, surprising and little known histories and etymologies of a whole host of English words. From ancient place names to unusual languages, and obscure professions to military slang, this is a fascinating treasure trove of linguistic facts.

Expand title description text
Language Arts Nonfiction Humor (Nonfiction)