Product Description
Is religion inherently violent? If not, what provokes violence in the name of religion? Do we mischaracterize religion by focusing too much on its violent side?

In this intriguing, original study of religious violence, Prof. Hector Avalos offers a new theory for the role of religion in violent conflicts. Starting with the premise that most violence is the result of real or perceived scarce resources, Avalos persuasively argues that religion creates new scarcities on the basis of unverifiable or illusory criteria. Through a careful analysis of the fundamental texts of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Dr. Avalos explains how four "scarce" resources have figured repeatedly in creating religious violence: sacred space (churches, temples, holy cities); the creation of holy scriptures (exclusive revelations); group privilege (chosen people, the predestined select few); and salvation (only some are saved). Thus, Avalos shows, religious violence is often the most unnecessary violence of all since the scarce resources over which religious conflicts ensue are not actually scarce or need not be scarce.

Comparing violence in religious and nonreligious contexts, Avalos makes the compelling argument that if we condemn violence caused by scarce resources as morally objectionable, then we must consider even more objectionable violence provoked by alleged scarcities that cannot be proven to exist.

Moreover, he shows how many modern academic biblical scholars and scholars of religion maintain the value of sacred texts despite their violence.

This serious philosophical examination of the roots of religious violence adds much to our understanding of a perennial source of widespread human suffering. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Genocide as a religious obligation
The author, a respected scholar who cannot be accused of religious bias, unveils the religious roots of genocide without concession to politically correct views which systematically put the blame of religious violence on one religiom while the adepts of the others have proven records of unbridled violence against what they considered as infidels along the centuries ,or as not deserving to inhabit a certain geographic space because according to them God has exclusively reserved it to them and they are dinvely entitled to slaughter whoever presently lives on it.

Interesting, professional and convincing work
This is a great book if you are interested in knowing why does religion cause violence. Author is extensively familliar with all previous important works on violence, religion and terrorism, ranging from sociology, philosophy, anthropology... He writes very academicaly systemeticly but/and also very interestingly.
Firstly, he introduces several of previous aspects and theories to the reader in an interesting and very lucid way, and then secondly, he explains his own theory in a very convincing way.
He basicly says: violence is very often caused by scarce resources, over which people fight. Religion creates these scarce resources (sacred space, salvation, sacred texts, privileged groups of people) and that is the cause of religious violence. Furthermore, he explains how such resources are non-existent and as such, must not be the cause of violence. Accordingly, every religious act of violence is unethical, whereas we cannot say the same about every act of un-religious act of violence.
This book is a must for everyone trying to understand how religions that are in a way proponents of peace are also and even more one of the important causes of violence.

Evidence Supports Multiple Hypothesis
I appreciate the author's hypothesis that religion creates "scarce resources" in four ways: inscripturation, sacred space, privileging, and salvation.In other words: "My group possesses THE book of salvation (you don't)," "My group possesses THE space of miracles (you don't)," "My group possesses THE right to do XYZ (you don't)," and "My group possesses THE true belief (and we have to make you believe or we won't go to heaven)."

What I don't appreciate is that he drags the reader through examples that also support the hypothesis that (bad) people manipulate religious belief to enhance personal or state power.

I also appreciated his list of possible "solutions" although I don't agree with them and they came after wading through the whole book.Most especially I liked his "zero-tolerance" argument that "just as we should reject all of Mein Kampf because of its racist and genocidal policies, we should reject the Bible for any genocidal policies it ever endorsed" (pages 360-361).I like this argument because it forces one to look at the whole without making excuses for parts that don't fit.For me it brought to mind the saying of George Fox (paraphrased), "The disciples said this and the disciples said that, but what can you say from your experience of Christ?"I read this as: They spoke from their context, now I am called to stand on their shoulders to speak from mine.

I think this book would have been much better had the author attempted to make his case between the hypotheses 1) that religion itself gives rise to violence and 2) that people in power use "sacred resources" to manipulate populations, etc.I suppose technically he would have had to formally exclude all other possible causes from the analysis in order for it to remain readable - but at least we might have come to some conclusion as to which of these two were more likely the culprit.

Sweet, sweet stuff...
Oh, how I enjoyed reading this book.

I might as well say that right from the start, so I'll get it out of my system. Because I was thinking about it throughout the entire book. Not many books make me think that way, and especially not non-fiction books. But it was truly an honor to read Fighting Words. An honor? Yeah, because I saw it as a privilege to learn what Avalos had to say.

And so much for all that. Now I really should focus on the contents of the book, right? Well, Hector Avalos, anthropologist and associate professor of Religious Studies at Iowa State University, has written a book about violence and its importance to Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, and if that wasn't enough, it's published by Prometheus Books, known to publish books that are - to say the least - quite skeptical towards religions at large.

Avalos uses a very straight-forward methodology. By applying what he calls the "scarce resource theory", he's able to demonstrate how the phenomenon of religion results in conflicts (violence) based on criteria that are unjustifiable and/or false. In other words, the teachings proposed by religious institutions can never be proven or justified, since religions can be defined as teachings using sources from supernatural beings or sources. Religious violence then turns out to be the most unnecessary of all violence, since the conflicts over the scarce resources fist and foremost are based on premises resulting from unjustified sources.

Even though Fighting Words is a brutal critique against religions in general and religious violence in particular, Avalos still is eager to point out that religions have their good sides, too. You don't HAVEto equate religion with violence, obviously some violence is perfectly secular, and a religious worldview doesn't necessary lead to violence. However, what he does say (and argue professionally for) on numerous occasions is that religions - especially Christianity, Islam, and Judaism - is a whole lot more violent that what most people believe or are even willing to admit, academics included. Furthermore, Avalos makes a tough crack against the latter when he shows how many of them continue their apologetic approach despite the fact that the teachings are based on unbelievably bloody and vicious texts and stories.

Fighting Words is sure to stir quite a buzz, since it more or less says that religions should be done away with. Critics of religion will have a field day, and believers will have to face the fact that what they've believed to be messages of love and goodness get a whole different meaning upon closer analysis.

I'm sure to use this book a lot in the future whenever I find myself in a religious debate.

A brief overview
Hector Avalos, an anthropologist and avowed secular humanist, provides a scathing critique of religion and its relationship with violence.Avalos uses scarce resource theory in order to show that religion is inherently violent.The author, also, believes that religious violence is always immoral, but this is not necessarily the case for secular violence.In order to achieve these goals, Avalos employs an empirico-rationalist strategy and divides his work into four sections.

In Part I of his book, Avalos looks at historical understandings of the relationship between religion and violence.From Late Antiquity to the Enlightenment, the author outlines theories of violence that have been proposed by prominent intellectual and church leaders.Next, Avalos provides theories from several scientific disciplines in order to show the broad range of theories on violence:biological/evolutionary, psychological, sociological, anthropological, and military.He concludes this part by critiquing the current religious theories on the interaction between religion and violence, examining such authors as Girard, Juergensmeyer, Kimball, and Schwartz.

Part II begins by examining the history of scarce resource theory, first proposed by Thomas Malthus and adapted to cover power dynamics on the familial, national, and global scales.Avalos then proposes his theory: four main scarce resources, ultimately unverifiable or non-existent, have repeatedly generated violence from the inception of religion to the present.Access to divine communication, particularly through inscripturation, becomes scarce when not everyone has access to the communications, usually in writing.Sacred space becomes a scarce resource when not everyone has access to, or the ability to live in, a certain religious area.Group privileging becomes a scarce resource when a certain religious group receives certain benefits, usually economic, that others in proximity do not receive.Salvation itself becomes a scarce resource when it is not available to everyone.Examining the religious texts and prominent historical leaders within the Abrahamic traditions, Avalos shows how violence ensues in each religion due to the creation of each of these four scarce resources.Finally Avalos critiques those scholars who seek to reappropriate or minimize violence within each Abrahamic tradition. Avalos is especially critical of `essentialist' scholars, or those who believe religion is essentially good and violence is a deviant form of religion.

In Part III, Avalos examines violence that is thought to have been caused by secularism or atheism.Avalos aims to show that secular philosophies do not provide as clear a motive for violence as has been proposed.Nazism is not an atheistic political theory, but is based on pseudoscience and biblical concepts of ethnocentrism and genealogical purity.As such, religion was a precursor to German anti-Semitism and the Holocaust.Stalinism and the Reign of Terror in the early twentieth century had more political undertones than atheistic.Current understanding of secular violence indicts nationalism and statism as root causes, but Avalos believes that famous instances of violence (e.g., the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre) attributed to the rise of secularized states were the result of religious factors.

Avalos concludes in Part IV, that religion is inherently prone to violence because religion is "predicated on the existence of unverifiable forces and/or beings.This means that disputes and claims are not easily settled by verifiable means, and violence is often the means to settle disputes and claims," (347).The author then seeks to explore the ethics of religious violence.Moral relativism, an academic pejorative, is necessary, and self-interest is the ultimate arbiter of human morality and judgment.As such, religious violence is always immoral, because violence for unverifiable or non-existent resources is more immoral than violence for verifiable and existent resources.Avalos proposes ways in which inscripturation, sacred space, group privileging, and salvation can be minimized to lessen religious violence, but he ultimately concludes that eliminating religion from human life is the correct solution.With these conclusions in mind, Avalos ends his work by applying these principles to American foreign policy. ... Read more

Product Description
Hendrickson traces the sometimes bizarre yet fascinating histories of nearly 7,500 English words and phrases from A to Zzz. His sources range from numerous languages and dialects, acronyms, echoic words, and slang to the names of places, people, animals, and historic events. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Incomplete, yet invaluable
I love this book.
...Sometimes, for fun, I kiss it.
When my wife is away, this book and I have been known to cuddle.Even now, as I'm typing this, I can't help but glance at this precious little book, and silently take its jacket off with my eyes.Oh, little "Dictionary of Word Origins," how I adore you!How I want to crack your binding and caress your smooth cover!How I want to feel the breath of your every turning page, and run my fingers between your every chapter.
Anyway.Um....
This really is a good book, and it's just amazing to discover how we arrived at the words we use today.
Look up "tawdry," and you'll discover it's named after St. Audrey who died of a tumor of the throat which she considered a punishment for her early love of necklaces."St. Audrey's lace" was a necklace, such as was sold on her fair day, October 17th.The term was extended to include other objects bought at this and other fairs--and from the general quality of such articles, the word, now "tawdry," took its modern-day meaning.
How cool is that?
And that's just one of thousands of entries.My wife hates this book because she thinks my quoting makes me an even bigger nerd than I already am.But I know she's just jealous.

Fun and Funny Read!
This is quite an interesting book! There will probably never be another book like this! Fun because of the adventurous stories behind the words. Funny because the cross-referencing is... well, unusual. For example,you'll look up 'centigrade' and it will tell you to look under 'congress'!Other examples include: 'glass' => 'electricity'; 'pectoral' =>'parrot'; 'scratch' => 'knick-knack'; 'town' => 'villain'; and myfavorite 'ventriloquism' => 'necromancy'! But that's just the beginning!There are even more... And then we have the Appendices. Appendix I is"Doublets" which are "words that have arrived in ourlanguage by different routes from the same source." This list is veryuseful especially for English students. Next we have Appendix II: WordsFrom Names. These are common, every-day words that originate from propernouns. For example: Did you know that the word 'coach' (as in a carriagepulled by a team of horses) comes from the Hungarian town Kocs where theywere first used? Or did you know that 'dollar' comes from Joachimsthal,Germany where silver was mined? Or did you know that the yellow-coloredshrub known as 'forsythia' was named for British royal gardener WilliamForsyth (1737-1804) who brought them home from a trip to China? And manyother fascinating origins! This brings us to the last part of the bookAppendix III: Given Names, Their Sources and Meanings. Any lover of wordswill love this section. Appendix III gives us the origins of nearly 1000given names. For example: Did you know that the name Ichabod means"God hath departed" in Hebrew? Or that Jennifer is Gaelic for"white wave"? Or that Xerxes is Persian for "lionking"? This and many more from a book I highly recommend to allEnglish students and lovers of words! ... Read more

Product Description
Get ready to chew the fat.

This engaging, humorous new book explains the not-so-common origins of such commonly used phrases as “apple-pie order,” “chew the fat,” and “hat trick.” Presented in a fun, easy-to-read style, it provides entertaining insight on metaphorical phrases, weird words, and strange expressions and takes readers on a journey through the bizarre and eccentric origins that make up our everyday speech.

• Word books have gained in popularity not just with students and linguaphiles, but with a general population interested in the fascinating development of our language

• Contains back stories for 500 intriguing words and phrases

• Fun to flip through and also fun to read cover to cover ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

More Than Just Words
This book not only gives origins of specific words, but sayings, too.The author interjects his own bits of humor in his writing, which gives it some personality and not just a boring delivery of definitions.

Interesting trivia--could be important--or not. LOL
How many people know that *gargoyle* comes from a French word referring to gargling? How many people want to? (You never know!) It refers to the sound of rainwater running down the rainspouts of gargoyles. Many such entries have several paragraphs of information, more than a standard good dictionary. Interesting and fun. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (6)

Not What I Was Expecting
While this book is interesting, it was not what I was expecting. I was looking for a book that was more about expressions in the form of phrases. While there are some within, the majority were just explanations of single words. Not exactly what I was looking for.

Another thing, this book is very thick, which is something that I wasn't expecting either. No big deal, but something to keep in mind for others like myself who don't have a lot of storage space for such things.

Don't get me wrong, the book is good for what it is, as long as you know what you're getting. I apparently didn't.

Fun Browsing
2107 Curious Word Origins, Sayings, & Expressions / 0-88365-845-3

I picked up this book second-hand, but I didn't get a chance to get around to it until I had my wisdom teeth taken out. Banished to bed by a well-meaning family (it honestly didn't hurt!), I finally got a chance to browse through this large tome.

2107 Curious Word Origins is a fun read, and an even more fun "skim". The expressions are dealt with in plain, straightforward English prose, with the author carefully and engagingly outlining the origins and usage of each unusual word or phrase. Some of the phrases are a bit out-of-date to my ears (or perhaps I live in the wrong area of the country) - "hog on ice" was certainly something I'd never heard before. But other words (juggernaut) were very familiar - so familiar that I was startled to realize that I'd never even bothered to wonder where they had come from before!

It was interesting to see the evolution of common words and terms, and while most of this can probably be found online, you're unlikely to find them all compiled together in an easily browsed source. I will admit that this probably isn't a cover-to-cover read, but it is useful for looking up terms and fun for browsing on a lazy afternoon. I recommend this book, if only because it is so unique and the price on Amazon is so cheap.

~ Ana Mardoll

Not the Best Hard to follow
You know those books that use too many of these. . .1888 (ci) [belg.] having to do with or related to: (types of) {relative to}. . .Kinda hard to follow with all that jargon.Simple phrases aren't in there.Index doesn't really organize the words or phrases well.It is almost written like a dictionary but not in alphabetical order.The book didn't focus on phrases as much as it did single words like "cannibal" and "catacomb" and so on.

Not what I expected (very big and bulky book). I reccomend Heavens To Betsy & Other Curious Sayings but since the republishing of it (2002) it seems it has changed.Oh well

Informative and fun
What a fun book!We often pull this one off the shelf when we use an expression and wonder where it comes from.It is a book that invites browsing, and is hard to close once you are into it.We've learned all sorts of great stuff from this book, and since language does not develop in a void, what we have gleaned from this book has led us to research and learning about other areas as well.

For trivia buffs, crossword addicts and etomologists everwhe
I came across this book at a local bookstore that had a selection of books for word lovers.I perused it while I drank my frappacino, and soon was convinced I had to take it home with me.It is the most intriguing book I have ever read.It is formatted like a dictionary, but for everyone who loves word origin and other trivia, you will come back to it time and again.It is an example of useless knowledge at its best.The history of the word "omelette" is absolutely fascinating, and the evolution in the pronunciation of "one" intrigues me.They still can't decide where "hobo" comes from.

I should mention one minute drawback--the man who first wrote these books (and his son continues the tradition) lived at the beginning of the twentieth century, so the book isn't as "hip" as the title would seem to indicate.If you aren't already interested in words, this won't get you going. ... Read more

Product Description

Today's politicians and political groups devote great attention and care to how their messages are conveyed. From policy debates in Congress to advertising on the campaign trail, they carefully choose which issues to emphasize and how to discuss them in the hope of affecting the opinions and evaluations of their target audience. This groundbreaking text brings together prominent scholars from political science, communication, and psychology in a tightly focused analysis of both the origins and the real-world impact of framing. Across the chapters, the authors discuss a broad range of contemporary issues, from taxes and health care to abortion, the death penalty, and the teaching of evolution. The chapters also illustrate the wide-ranging relevance of framing for many different contexts in American politics, including public opinion, the news media, election campaigns, parties, interest groups, Congress, the presidency, and the judiciary.

Product Description
Believe it or not, this is probably the first book to attempt to identify the original sources of some of the English language's most common expressions. We might think we know who first said famous for fifteen minutes, annus horribilis, the cold war and let them eat cake. It's a no brainer, you might say, but Max Cryer has a surprise or two in store for you. I kid you not. In this very readable book, he explores the origins of hundreds of expressions we use and hear every day – and comes up with some surprising findings. Never economical with the truth, he might just have the last laugh.
We learn what they didn’t say...We are not amused; Elementary my dear Watson; Let them eat cake; First catch your hare.
We learn that the Bible doesn’t mention Salome – or seven veils….
We learn about the origins of the infamous Mile High Club.
Written in Max Cryer’s delightfully witty style, WHO SAID THAT FIRST? is a wonderful book to dip into or settle a friendly dispute. Remember, good books are few and far between, and you get what you pay for. So buy this book, go ahead, make my day.
Max Cryer is a writer, entertainer and broadcaster, who hosts a weekly radio slot on Radio Live on the quirks of the English language. In a long career, he has been a schoolteacher, a compere and television host, as well as a performer on the opera stage in London and in cabaret in Las Vegas and Hollywood. Now a full-time writer living in Auckland, he has written many books, including LOVE ME TENDER, THE GODZONE DICTIONARY and HEAR OUR VOICES, WE ENTREAT

The inspiration for WHO SAID THAT FIRST?
During his years working in Hollywood, Max Cryer became acquainted with Lucille Ball – at the time the world’s most popular comedy actress. One day when they were having lunch together, Max complimented her on the amount of pleasure she gave, and Lucille replied: ‘I would be absolutely nothing without the writers. It’s all to do with the way things are written – they create the springboard for me.’
The remark stayed with Max for years, and he realised it was true. Very often the person who said an effective or memorable line didn’t actually create it. As Lucille Ball had said, the person in the background should have the credit – but was usually invisible.
This is was what motivated him to seek not just popular expressions – but who had actually originated them. ... Read more

Product Description
An easy to use reference for the Latin & Greek roots of English Words. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Lots and Lots and Lots to know.....
I learned quite a bit and I laughed - guffawed perhaps - even more as I experienced this volume by Rob Kyff, also known as "The Word Guy".From the very opening pages (where we learn why blondes are tow-heads....from the explanation I wonder why they weren't called "Flax Heads" Ah, well.

What really got me going with this book, though, is Kyff's suggestion that the reader consider reading the book as "entering a room filled with intriguing people."As a word lover, this is a concept I can completely understand: after all, aren't words purely intriguing people?

I sat in my seat, nodding in surprise to find "winging it" was not in the same vein as literally "flying by the seat of my pants" instead it comes from a stage and performance root - unprepared actors would have someone in the wings prompting them with their lines. Laziness lead to "winging it" because there was no other preparation.

I can somehow picture a cow with aching feet when I learned "tender foot" actually comes from importing cattle who didn't fare too well on the "rough" colonial terrain... that is until they got used to it.

Wow your friends and romance your word loving spirit through this engaging and mind stretching volume. ... Read more

Product Description
How did the word Amen become a sacred utterance in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam? Why does the word Amen appear as a proper noun in Revelations 3:14 and why does the sacred word appear in the Bible more than 60 times? Did you know that the Akan as well as other West African peoples are descendants of the Ancient Egyptians? Did you know that the African American spiritual "Amen" is a continuation of an ancient African hymn to the "God" Amen that can be found throughout Africa? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Amen! Amen!
I would like to thank Dr. Osei, and of course his editors, Dr. Issa, and Dr. Faraji, for this very competent extrapolation on the use of the word "Amen" in the world "religions" of today. The modern world system, manifested as "global white supremacy", in it's institutions of higher learning, have given no credit to anything or anybody that comes from Afrika.

This attitude, is used due to jealousy, envy, and racisim, of the so called white race, because of their lack of melanin, and their late start into civilization. More contemporaneously, they have used this attitude to justify the pillage, rape, and destruction of peoples, lands, and civilizations across the globe. The most heinous of their crimes, has been the cooptation of the only true "God", as was conceived by Afrikans in the nile valley thousands of years ago, into "their" own cultural/ethnic eurocentric presentation to the world. History does not substantiate their lies, and this work, along with "The Ancient Egyptians are here", substantiates the truth of who the real Khemites are, and who god really is. Thank you!!!!!!!!

I would like to critique this work with some additional comment. My research has shown me that the ancient khemites did not use the word dark" as a descriptor of objects, as they did the word "Black". This is very important, because global white supremacy, has redefined, and defined, words to take on meanings for their benefit. Dark, for example, is always equated with ignorance, barbaric, dirty, without light. Black, however, according to science, and ancient Afrikans, is the origin of all things. Even "white light", comes from Ultraviolet light, (beyond violet, or black), or black light. Black contains all the light, colors, etc. We should refer to the "Nun", and ourselves as Black, not dark. See the book, "The Meaning of Blackness", by IM Nur.

Secondly, and lastly, there were many migrations oput of Afrika, before and after the invasions by europeans, and asians/arabs. When you designate who the ancient egyptians are, you can't just say it was those Afrikans in current West Afrika, and the diaspora of the west. Afrikans left the nile valley and saharan complex areas, before and after the invasions. These Afrikans, in other places of the globe besides the west, also have many of the cultural/genetic links to the ancient nile valley.

This is a must read for all who are seeking truth. Please read The Ancient Egyptians are here, along with this book.
[...] ... Read more

Product Description
From hocus-pocus to the Harlem Globetrotters to the Oh Henry! candy bar, Don and Pam Wulffson explore how ordinary and extraordinary words and names came to be.

Perfect for trivia fans and word lovers of all ages, Abracadabra to Zombie is packed with off-the-wall origin stories (arranged alphabetically), including all fifty state names, the months of the year, and much, much more. Kids, parents, and teachers will be swapping word trivia long after the last page has been read! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Fun Facts
This is a great book for any kid that likes interesting facts.It really does cover a wide range of topics.As an adult working in a library, I found that I couldn't put it down.I had to go out and get my own copy, and copies for my nieces and nephews.

Why make a fictitious fact book?
It sounds like a good idea; 300 "wacky" word origins. (The Amazon entry says "500;" the book jacket says 300.)

Unfortunately the authors are using an alternate meaning of "wacky."This is "irrational."

The errors were embarrassingly easy to spot."News" is _not_ an acronym from north south east west. It comes from the same word as "new"--and is the same root in French (for which an acronym will not work) and has been used way longer than we've had a literate population that used acronyms. Their origin of Nome, Alaska, doesn't agree with the one on the Nome, Alaska home page--you'd think the people of Nome would know. And so on and so on.

It's as if the book was written based on conversation around a bar. And that would be fine if it were billed as fiction, but it is not ok in a book that is marketed as fact.

The brand name origins seem to check out, but that is little consolation. There was even an error I found in the "old and forgotten" words. (There may be more than one; did not look everything up.) Perhaps they could re edit this bookwith just the brand names.

It gets two stars for being entertaining and easy to read. Also, the Jared Lee illustrations are great fun.

The poor people who embarrass themselves by quoting from it are to be pitied, but not as much as the students who base homework on it and get penalized for inaccuracy.

Another reviewer "works in a library;" I am a librarian and will be using this book on tours to illustrate a poor source. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
"Word Origins" is one of five titles in this series of language reference guides to help children of 7-11 master the basics of literacy. Understanding how words have evolved over time helps with spelling, suffixes, and prefixes. Funny artwork and a lively text follows the characters Brian, Shaz, and the dog Dennis as they travel back in time to discover where different words such as sight, sister, or bungalow came from, and how they have changed with time. The book gives clear advice on numerous points. It also provides concise teaching points for language and literacy lessons, and will be an invaluable resource for both teachers and parents. It links to Literacy Framework for KS2. John Butterworth is the author of several language activity books for children including the other titles in this series: "Grammar", "Comprehension", "Punctuation" and "Spelling", as well as "Using the Oxford School Dictionary" and "Using the Oxford Primary School Dictionary". ... Read more

Product Description
Practical and reinforced by scores of playful illustrations, this book aims to make learning about the variety of English fun for younger readers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

LOVE THE LANGUAGE
This is a wonderful book for anyone who uses the Enlgish language --(ages: 12 to 200) and awonderful companion to Strunk & White's The Elements of Style.Vocabulary Energizers II is instructive, witty, challenging and entertaining.Its etymology includes bothfascinating history and superb quotes of the classics of all the world literatures which inform and constitute the current version of our English language. If you want to improve your communication skills (especially if you work in a virtual world), this book should be on the top of your "to do" list. This is is a terrific book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Another one--will there be a third?
How great--a second helping with NO calories! As absorbing a read as the first book, and we're hoping for another from this author!

Verbivore's Feast
Well, the book arrived in reasonable time and in mint condition but the
freight charge involved means I paid in excess of 62% more than the retail price of the book to get it. Still, I guess I knew what the charge would be at the time of ordering but with percentages like this I would hestiate to use the service again unless I was truly desperate! ... Read more

Product Description
Aimed at both word-puzzle enthusiasts and language students, this is a companion to "Dictionary of Idioms" and "Dictionary of Proverbs", and is by the same authors. It contains over 500 entries on common words ("boycott", "tawdry", "candidate"), their origins and their histories, and many other words are detailed in cross-references. In some instances the development of the word is illustrated with tree-diagrams showing its progress - for example, from Greek to Latin to Old French to English. The diagrams also highlight those offshoots which developed into other, often seemingly unconnected words. Throughout the book there are mini-essays on general topics, including sources, derivations and common themes such as words for plants, or for cloth. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Disappointing
I received this book as a gift from a friend who noticed my general interest in the origins of words and phrases. And indeed, I was happy when I first saw the title because I do find this subject to be interesting. However upon reading the book I was disappointed.

I can't really put my hand on the reason(s) of my disappointment. It could be because of the fact that I was able to point out a few mistakes myself. It could be because of the complicated and unorganized fashion of presenting the information. It could even be because of the poor printing quality! Nevertheless, I was disappointed and did not find this book to be satisfying.

It could be because I myself didn't have sincere interest in the subject, but I doubt that. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great read!
This is a wonderful book for anyone who loves words, phrases and everything which has to do with our wonderful English language. I wish our Mother could still be alive to read this--it would have been her favorite also. ... Read more