The Secret Life of Words: English Volumes 1-3 18 CDs The Great Course Curzan

In The Secret Life of Words: English Words and Their Origins, you’ll get a delightful, informative survey of English, from its Germanic origins to the rise of globalization and cyber-communications. Award-winning Professor Anne Curzan of the University of Michigan approaches the subject 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 this course, you’ll discover the history of the dictionary and how words make it into a reference book like the Oxford English Dictionary (OED); 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.” Professor Curzan celebrates English for all its nuances and curiosities. By stepping back to excavate the language as a linguist, she shows you there is no such thing as a boring word.