The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll Through the Hidden Connections of the English Language

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A reviewer on Wall Street Journal said that Forsyth “is adept at adding spice to received wisdom and popularizing the findings of academic linguists.” [36] The Unknown Unknown [ edit ] Forsyth, Mark (11 March 2011). "The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll through the Hidden Connections of the English Language". Iconbooks.com. Icon Books . Retrieved 9 January 2015. Then Renaissance Italians noticed that, in fact, a year was 365 and just less thana quarter days. This upset them terribly.

So Julius Caesar decreed that everyone should have a new calendar with an extra day every four years. This is pretty familiar stuff: it's February 29th, a leap year. I’ve a feeling that even the historical meanings of words we don’t know about impact on our understanding of their current meanings. I know that seems daft – but take the word develop, which comes from the Old French for ‘to unfold’ and how develop means something quite different in English than change. As this book tells us – there are no true synonyms in any language – how could there possibly be?

He also wrote a short chapter, "Who Named All the Cities," [46] for a book compiled by Gemma Elwin Harris called Big Questions from Little People Answered by Some Very Big People. [47] Radio and TED Talk appearances [ edit ] Forsyth, Mark (13 December 2014). "The Servant". The Spectator. The Spectator (1828) Ltd . Retrieved 17 January 2015.

Forsyth, Mark (9 October 2013). "Mark Forsyth's top 10 lost words". The Guardian . Retrieved 18 January 2015. a b c d Colanduno, Derek (25 December 2012). "More American than a Good Shag. Interview: Mark Forsyth". Skepticality . Retrieved 4 January 2015. Politics and advertising have always had a lot in common. They are both despised. They are both necessary if you want to shift the public. And they both rely on the consumer not knowing the figures of rhetoric. [54] a b c Knowsley, Jo (21 December 2012). "History - Word play for the day: resources". The Times Educational Supplement 5024. London (UK): TSL Education Ltd.

Games

Forsyth wrote the introduction for the new edition of Collins English Dictionary. [44] [45] In it, he notes "There are few pastimes in life as pleasurable and profitable as reading the dictionary. The plot is, of course, rather weak, and the moral of the whole thing slightly elusive; but for my money there isn't another book that comes close to it." [44] [45] Lofthouse, Richard (4 April 2014). "Making Rhetoric Relevant". Oxford Today. University of Oxford. Archived from the original on 17 February 2015 . Retrieved 7 January 2015. And, weirdly enough, all the Roman names survive in Welsh: Dydd-sull, -llun, -marwth, -mercher, -iou, -gwener, -sadwrn.