Word Myths

Author : David Wilton
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199740836
Total Pages : 240 pages
Book Rating : 4.33/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Word Myths written by David Wilton and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2008-11-06 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Do you "know" that posh comes from an acronym meaning "port out, starboard home"? That "the whole nine yards" comes from (pick one) the length of a WWII gunner's belt; the amount of fabric needed to make a kilt; a sarcastic football expression? That Chicago is called "The Windy City" because of the bloviating habits of its politicians, and not the breeze off the lake? If so, you need this book. David Wilton debunks the most persistently wrong word histories, and gives, to the best of our actual knowledge, the real stories behind these perennially mis-etymologized words. In addition, he explains why these wrong stories are created, disseminated, and persist, even after being corrected time and time again. What makes us cling to these stories, when the truth behind these words and phrases is available, for the most part, at any library or on the Internet? Arranged by chapters, this book avoids a dry A-Z format. Chapters separate misetymologies by kind, including The Perils of Political Correctness (picnics have nothing to do with lynchings), Posh, Phat Pommies (the problems of bacronyming--the desire to make every word into an acronym), and CANOE (which stands for the Conspiracy to Attribute Nautical Origins to Everything). Word Myths corrects long-held and far-flung examples of wrong etymologies, without taking the fun out of etymology itself. It's the best of both worlds: not only do you learn the many wrong stories behind these words, you also learn why and how they are created--and what the real story is.

Author : David Wilton
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0195375572
Total Pages : 234 pages
Book Rating : 4.72/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Word Myths written by David Wilton and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2008-11 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An examination of the most famous stories, tales, and histories of the world that are provably wrong provides a look at why certain myths are created and spread, the reasons they persist, and the actual truths that long have been obscured by misinformation.

Author : Keith S. Folse
Publisher : University of Michigan Press ELT
ISBN 13 : 9780472030293
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.99/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Vocabulary Myths written by Keith S. Folse and published by University of Michigan Press ELT. This book was released on 2004-03-10 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Vocabulary Myths, Keith S. Folse breaks down the teaching of second language vocabulary into eight commonly held myths. In debunking each myth, he introduces the myth with a story based on his 25 years of teaching experience (in the United States and abroad), continues with a presentation of what empirical research has shown on the topic, and finishes with a list of what teachers can do in their classrooms to facilitate true vocabulary acquisition. The goal of Vocabulary Myths is to foster a paradigm shift that correctly views vocabulary as fundamental in any second language learning process and demonstrates that research supports this goal-that in fact there is a wealth of empirical evidence to support these views. In addition, an important theme is that teachers have overestimated how much vocabulary students really understand, and as a result, the so-called "comprehensible input" is neither comprehensible nor input. The second language vocabulary acquisition myths reexamined in this book are: *In learning another language, vocabulary is not as important as grammar or other areas. *Using word lists to learn L2 vocabulary is unproductive. *Presenting new vocabulary in semantic sets facilitates learning. *The use of translations to learn new vocabulary should be discouraged. *Guessing words from context is an excellent strategy for learning L2 vocabulary. *The best vocabulary learners make use of one or two really specific vocabulary learning strategies. *The best dictionary for L2 learners is a monolingual dictionary. *Teachers, textbooks, and curricula cover L2 vocabulary adequately.

Author : Arthur Cotterell
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 0192177478
Total Pages : 322 pages
Book Rating : 4.76/5 ( download)

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Download or read book A Dictionary of World Mythology written by Arthur Cotterell and published by . This book was released on 1979 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9786185048891
Total Pages : 128 pages
Book Rating : 4.92/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Myths Behind Words written by and published by . This book was released on 2018-04-18 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Like the constellations in the sky, words such as aphrodisiac, hubris, museum, galaxy and mentor each contain within them a story, if only you knew to look closely. This collection retells the myths behind common words and expressions in English, bringing to life the heroes, monsters and gods whose deeds and battles have left a hidden mark on our language. Compiling more than seventy-five myths, the stories in this book feature well-known figures such as Zeus, Athena, Apollo, Hercules, Achilles, the Amazons, Medusa and the Minotaur. The entries are supplemented with original illustration reproductions of scenes from ancient pottery, and include translations from Ancient Greek epics such as the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Argonautica and Theogony.

Author : G. A. Gaskell
Publisher : Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN 13 : 1725231344
Total Pages : 862 pages
Book Rating : 4.44/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Dictionary of All Scriptures and Myths written by G. A. Gaskell and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2012-04-01 with total page 862 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : Bryan Burrough
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 198488011X
Total Pages : 433 pages
Book Rating : 4.16/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Forget the Alamo written by Bryan Burrough and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2022-06-07 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times bestseller! “Lively and absorbing. . ." — The New York Times Book Review "Engrossing." —Wall Street Journal “Entertaining and well-researched . . . ” —Houston Chronicle Three noted Texan writers combine forces to tell the real story of the Alamo, dispelling the myths, exploring why they had their day for so long, and explaining why the ugly fight about its meaning is now coming to a head. Every nation needs its creation myth, and since Texas was a nation before it was a state, it's no surprise that its myths bite deep. There's no piece of history more important to Texans than the Battle of the Alamo, when Davy Crockett and a band of rebels went down in a blaze of glory fighting for independence from Mexico, losing the battle but setting Texas up to win the war. However, that version of events, as Forget the Alamo definitively shows, owes more to fantasy than reality. Just as the site of the Alamo was left in ruins for decades, its story was forgotten and twisted over time, with the contributions of Tejanos--Texans of Mexican origin, who fought alongside the Anglo rebels--scrubbed from the record, and the origin of the conflict over Mexico's push to abolish slavery papered over. Forget the Alamo provocatively explains the true story of the battle against the backdrop of Texas's struggle for independence, then shows how the sausage of myth got made in the Jim Crow South of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. As uncomfortable as it may be to hear for some, celebrating the Alamo has long had an echo of celebrating whiteness. In the past forty-some years, waves of revisionists have come at this topic, and at times have made real progress toward a more nuanced and inclusive story that doesn't alienate anyone. But we are not living in one of those times; the fight over the Alamo's meaning has become more pitched than ever in the past few years, even violent, as Texas's future begins to look more and more different from its past. It's the perfect time for a wise and generous-spirited book that shines the bright light of the truth into a place that's gotten awfully dark.

Author : David Adams Leeming
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780195102758
Total Pages : 342 pages
Book Rating : 4.54/5 ( download)

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Download or read book A Dictionary of Creation Myths written by David Adams Leeming and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : Tamra Andrews
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0195136772
Total Pages : 302 pages
Book Rating : 4.77/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Dictionary of Nature Myths written by Tamra Andrews and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2000 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Comprehensive and cross-referenced, this informative volume is a rich introduction to the world of nature as experienced by ancient peoples around the globe. 51 halftones.

Author : G. A. Gaskell
Publisher : Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN 13 : 1620321246
Total Pages : 862 pages
Book Rating : 4.49/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Dictionary of All Scriptures and Myths written by G. A. Gaskell and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2012-04-01 with total page 862 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: