The Secret Life of Words: English Words and Their Origins
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The Secret Life of Words: English Words and Their Origins
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Narrated by:
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Anne Curzan
About this listen
From new words such as "bling" and "email" to the role of text messaging and other electronic communications, English is changing all around us. Discover the secrets behind the words in our everyday lexicon with this delightful, informative survey of English, from its Germanic origins to the rise of globalization and cyber-communications.
Professor Curzan approaches words like an archaeologist, digging below the surface to uncover the story of words, from the humble "she" to such SAT words as "conflagration" and "pedimanous."
In these 36 fascinating lectures, you'll
- discover the history of the dictionary and how words make it into a reference book like the Oxford English Dictionary;
- survey the borrowed words that make up the English lexicon;
- find out how words are born and how they die;
- expand your vocabulary by studying Greek and Latin "word webs"; and
- revel in new terms, such as "musquirt," "adorkable," and "struggle bus."
English is an omnivorous language and has borrowed heavily from the many languages it has come into contact with, from Celtic and Old Norse in the Middle Ages to the dozens of world languages in the truly global 20th and 21st centuries. You'll be surprised to learn that the impulse to conserve "pure English" is nothing new. In fact, if English purists during the Renaissance had their way, we would now be using Old English compounds such as "flesh-strings" for "muscles" and "bone-lock" for "joint."
You may not come away using terms like "whatevs" or "multislacking" in casual conversation, but you'll love studying the linguistic system that gives us such irreverent - and fun - slang, from "boy toy" to "cankles."
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
©2012 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2012 The Great CoursesListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about The Secret Life of Words: English Words and Their Origins
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Rockesh Gurtu
- 27-01-23
Riveting!
Learnt a lot ! vert fascinating,riveting & gripping! Anne is wonderful 👍😊 would recommend to anyone who loves language/ history
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Chong Beng Lim
- 11-11-18
Great but bad interface provided by Audible👎👎👎
I need to make lots of notes but due to the shoddy interface of Audible and it caused me to waste lots of valuable time... Audible app interface sucks. 👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Splodge
- 27-09-22
Too American
I appreciate that it's an American lecturer but assuming that the audience is American became annoying.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Winky101
- 07-11-20
Fascinating!
I wasn't sure when I got this whether it would be something i would like, however, I have listened to this four times and each time I learn something new. Very enjoyable listen!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Kaya
- 24-03-15
Loved it!
Great information and a fascinating lecture. I'm left a lot more aware of the language we use, of the metaphors that among other things shape the way we think of love and arguments, and the rich history of constant change as we seek new ways of expressing ourselves.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Ekaterina Alexandrova
- 17-12-17
Interesting even for non-English speaker
Sometimes it was too hard for me and I can't say I understood every word but overall it was valuable addition to my knowledge of English and to understanding of how any language works and what is happening in English in particular. The course is performed very lively.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- rednagrima
- 25-11-22
Excellent, well worth listening to
Anne explains language very well and articulately. I now feel more in tune with how new words come about and am more sympathetic to changes that seem less "good English".
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Rhiannon
- 19-01-17
Favourite
This is one of my favourite Great Courses listens - it's changed my thoughts around the English language and what is 'correct'
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Peter W Robinson
- 08-04-16
Captivating
This was a clear and informative "tour" of the birth a nd development of words a nd their deployment. Very well delivered by Anne Curzan in a way I found captivating. Highly recommended to anyone who loves the English language in all its diverse scope. Although the audience for this course is arguably American it is nonetheless relevant to all English speakers worldwide a nd Anne Curzan respects that diversity very well indeed. She also stimulates debate on many aspects of the language. I found it very enjoyable as well as educational.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- A. Gray
- 28-03-18
One of the best!
This is one of the best courses in The Great Course series. It was captivating the whole way through. I especially enjoyed the early lectures in the history of the language, but the best thing was the enthusiasm of the lecturer. Tempted to listen all over again.
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1 person found this helpful