Kipfer - Word Nerd: More than 17,000 Fascinating Facts about Words

Copyright 2007 by Barbara Ann Kipfer

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DR 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Paul, my Sherpa

At the Thanksgiving feast about three years ago, I explained some of the words pertaining to the holiday. Everybody had so much fun and so many new questions and tidbits came up. My husband, Paul Magoulas, reminded me of the word notes I had made over the years as a lexicographer, and encouraged me to compile them to share with others. Thank you to Paul, who endured my endless dictionary reading (and talking about words) for three years while I went over my notes to ensure I found the most interesting tidbit about every word on my list. Thank you, also, to my boys Kyle and Keir, who were the unwitting recipients of much word knowledge during this time!

This book is a collection of a-really-interesting-thing-you-probably-do-not-know about thousands and thousands of words. It is the result of a hobby of gathering observations about words, something that has just come naturally during my twenty-seven years as a professional lexicographer. It is a delightful hobby, writing down what I find to be truly interesting definitions, fascinating origins or histories, details of usage, surprising trivia, useful synonyms, or unexpected connections between words. In Word Nerd, I have caught the interesting details about thousands of words and now present them to the wide world of word-lovers.

I have read dictionaries, etymology books, tomes on usage and grammar, books of unusual or old words, word trivia, and vocabulary booksfor fun! The entries offer information that would otherwise be elusive to readers who do not have access to numerous books about language and words. The book is intended for reader exploration and then as the stimulus for readers to dig up interesting information on their own.

I have never met a person who is not interested in language. Mostly, people are curious about etymologies, unusual words, definitions, and points about usage and grammar. But there are no browsable books with a combination of these types of information about words. I know, because I have been a lexicographer for twenty-seven years and it is my business to be aware of all the books written about language. I have been writing down cool stuff about words for many years. Up to now, you could not find a book that contained word origins and changes of meaning and cool-but-rarely-used words in concise, easy-to-grasp snippets. You could only find books focused on and extensively explaining a specific language topic or dictionaries with a myriad of facts, but which few people decide to tackle cover-to-cover.

So, here comes Word Nerd. You see, I do read dictionaries from A-to-Z. Word Nerd contains my notes from books about word history and etymology, unusual or lost or uncommon words, grammar instruction and usage, word trivia, differences between confusable words, how words are formedfrom all the general and specialized dictionaries and language books that I have read. In Word Nerd, I have distilled many, many bookshelves' worth of books in each of these areas and now they are presented together for others to enjoy.

Readers will be inspired by Word Nerd to explore further. They will find that any trip through Word Nerd is a really cool way to learn things about words, things that may be useful or things that they can then turn around and describe to their friends and families. In opening to any page, readers can have experiences like, wow, I had forgotten that, or that is certainly something I did not know, or aha! that is what that means! or oh, that is where that came from!

Word-of-the-day services and calendars flourish, online dictionary sites prosper, and print dictionaries and word books continue to sell very wellall due to our unending curiosity about the English language. People are infinitely curious about where a word came from (etymology/word history), words that elude them (tip-of-the-tongue syndrome), new words, unusual or old words that could be revived, and correct usage and grammar. There is something for every sort of word lover in this book. Dip into Word Nerd at any point and discover fresh, entertaining insights into the world of words. I present a fantastic trip through English vocabulary. The focus is on single words, not phrases, in this book.

The fun and fascinating tidbits about our language and culture found in Word Nerd will provide endless hours of pleasurable browsing. This is a connoisseur's collection of information about words. More importantly, it fuels the reader's desire to learn even more. Word Nerd is a mix of all types of information about a huge range of vocabulary. It is great for learning something in a snap, for an aha! I didn't know that! moment, for chatting with and quizzing friends and family. Word Nerd is a book to share. And before you know it, there may be scores of people reading dictionaries for fun!

A Note on Sources

I am deeply indebted to Oxford University Press and all of its wonderful lexicographic resources. I wish I could have read the whole Oxford English Dictionary, but I settled for the Shorter Oxford English Dictionarythree times! Most of the word origin information that I gathered was from Oxford sources and they are the ones to turn to as you, the reader, do your own investigations and word trivia collecting. I read many other books on etymology and I found lots of good information, but one must always go back to Oxford as the authority.

I encourage all word nerds to dive into books on word history and etymology, books about unusual or uncommon words, grammar and usage instruction, books on word differences, and Latin and Greek roots. There are so many great word books out there; I read literally hundreds when compiling this, and there is not room to list hem allbut I am deeply indebted to all the lexicographers and linguists who wrote them.

A Note on Errors

In the 17,000 notes on words' origins, meanings, and other details in this work, it is not unlikely that an error has crept into the copy along the way. So if you find one, please feel free to write to me at barbara@word-nerd.com so I can research it and correct it in subsequent editions.

use a hold or hold, not ahold

use a lot, not alot

awhile means for a time and a while means a period of time

a is the determiner to use for consonant sounds; an is for vowel sounds

the lightest weight of sandpaper is A and the heaviest is E

A ranks third in frequency for printed English behind E and T

A-1 was orginally an abbreviation in the Register of Shipping for Lloyds of Londonused to describe ships in first-class condition