Relates the origins and contemporary meaning of more than 550 familiar words and phrases such as "eat crow," "scapegoat," and "tar and feather," each followed by a list of references; arranged alphabetically, with a subject index.
a bobtailed, generally chronological listing of proper names that have become improper and uncommonly common, together with a smattering of proper names commonly used ... and certain other diversions
Traces the origins of more than one hundred eponyms, revealing little-known facts about common words that were derived from the names of people or places.
Traces the origins of more than 100 eponymous words--words derived from the names of people or places. For example "sandwich" is an eponymous word from the eponym, Earl of Sandwich, the man who invented sandwiches.
