Alphabet Juice: The Energies, Gists, and Spirits of Letters, Words, and Combinations Thereof; Their Roots, Bones, Innards, Piths, Pips, and Secret Parts, Tinctures, Tonics, and Essences; With Examples of Their Usage Foul and Savory
By Roy BlountDid you know that both mammal and matter derive from baby talk? Have you noticed how wince makes you wince? Ever wonder why so many h-words have to do with breath? Roy Blount Jr. certainly has, and after forty years of making a living using words in every medium, print or electronic, except greeting cards, he still can't get over his ABCs. In "Alphabet Juice", he celebrates the electricity, the juju, the sonic and kinetic energies, of letters and their combinations. Blount does not prescribe proper English. The franchise he claims is 'over the counter.' Three and a half centuries ago, Thomas Blount produced "Blount's Glossographia", the first dictionary to explore derivations of English words. This "Blount's Glossographia" takes that pursuit to other levels, from Proto-Indo-European roots to your epiglottis. It rejects the standard linguistic notion that the connection between words and their meanings is "arbitrary." Even the word arbitrary is shown to be no more arbitrary, at its root, than go-to guy or crackerjack. From sources as venerable as the OED (in which Blount finds an inconsistency, at whisk) and as fresh as Urbandictionary.com (to which Blount has contributed the number-one definition of 'alligator arm'), and especially from the author's own wide-ranging experience, "Alphabet Juice" derives an organic take on language that is unlike, and more fun than, any other.
Buy Alphabet Juice by Roy Blount at Attic books in Nairobi Kenya.
Book details
- Hardcover
- 364 pages
- English
- 0374103690
- 9780374103699
About Roy Blount
roy blount was Read More about Roy Blount
People who bought this also bought
Never Split the Difference : Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It
New Book
The Grace Awakening (Bible Study Guide) book by Charles R Swindoll
Used Book
Our Heritage: A Brief History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Used Book
The Red Hat Society : Fun and Friendship After Fifty
Used Book
Food Supply Security, 2003 (Centre for Studies and Research in International Law and Int)
Used Book
Active Faith : How Christians are Changing the Soul of American Politics
Used Book
Letters to Young Churches: A Translation of the New Testament Epistles
Used Book
Whip Your Career Into Submission: The 30-Day Plan to Transform Yourself from Job Slave to Master of Your Own Destiny
Used Book
Spreading the Fire : New Look at Acts - God's Training Manual for Every Christian
Used Book
Multilevel Adaptive Methods for Partial Differential Equations
Used Book
Blood and Money: The Classic True Story of Murder, Passion, and Power
Used Book
Mysteries in History: A Journey Through The Great Unanswered Questions of Our Time
Like New
Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner book by Dean Karnazes
Used Book