{"product_id":"strange-to-say-book-deborah-warren-9781589881570","title":"Strange to Say","description":"\u003cb\u003eYou can't stop language, because \u003ci\u003ewhen all's said and done\u003c\/i\u003e is never.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn this witty account of the origins of many English words and expressions, Deborah Warren educates as she entertains―and entertain she does, leading her readers through the amazing labyrinthian history of related words. Language, she writes, is all about mutation. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eRead about the first meanings of common words and phrases including dessert, vodka, lunatic, tulip, dollar, bikini, peeping tom, peter out, and devil's advocate. Warren is a former Latin teacher, a gifted poet, and a writer of great playfulness, and \u003ci\u003eStrange to Say\u003c\/i\u003e is a cornucopia of joyful learning and laughter. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDid you know. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eLord Cardigan was a British aristocrat and military man known for the sweater jackets he sported. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eAvocado\u003c\/i\u003e evolved from the Aztec Nahuatl word \u003ci\u003eahuacatl\u003c\/i\u003e (testicle) into Spanish \u003ci\u003eaguacate\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA lying lawyer might \u003ci\u003epull the wool over a judge's eyes\u003c\/i\u003e--yank his wig down across his face. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn the original tale of Cinderella, her slippers were made of \u003ci\u003evair\u003c\/i\u003e (fur)--which in the orally-told story mistakenly turned into the homonym \u003ci\u003everre\u003c\/i\u003e (glass). \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eLike \u003ci\u003elaundry, lavender\u003c\/i\u003e evolved from Italian \u003ci\u003elavanderia\u003c\/i\u003e, things to be washed. The plant was used as a clothes freshener. It smells better than, say, the misspelled Downy Unstopable with the ad that touts its feisty freshness, unaware that \u003ci\u003efeisty\u003c\/i\u003e evolved from Middle English \u003ci\u003efisten\u003c\/i\u003e--fart.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49590305456401,"sku":"GOR012888107","price":12.69,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49858804515089,"sku":"CIN1589881575VG","price":7.7,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51038008967441,"sku":"NIN9781589881570","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51842217804049,"sku":"CIN1589881575G","price":7.05,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1589881575.jpg?v=1750830349","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/products\/strange-to-say-book-deborah-warren-9781589881570","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}