Amazing Words

Is there anyone alive who has more fun with words than Richard Lederer? In dozens of books, from Crazy English to The Word Circus, he has continually entertained and amazed us with his boundless knowledge of and enthusiasm for all things linguistic. Now, in Amazing Words, Lederer puts on yet another dazzling display, elucidating the wondrous stories and secrets that lie hidden in the language. There’s an ooh! and an ah! and a hearty ha-ha-ha! on every page. —Charles Harrington Elster, author of The Accidents of Style

Richard Lederer has outdone Richard Lederer. Amazing Words is clever, compelling, and totally captivating. This book is for anyone and everyone who loves the English language. It is one of a dozen books I would select to take along if I were exiled to a desert island. —Paul Dickson, author of Words

This is not simply a book about Amazing Words, it is also an amazing book about words—and one that could have only been written by the inimitable Richard Lederer. Enjoy, word lovers, enjoy! —Dr. Mardy Grothe, author of I Never Metaphor I Didn’t Like

Amazing Words is chock full of constant surprise. Each entry is a font of delight and knowledge. I had to keep reading because I unfailingly wanted to see how the next word would bedazzle, beguile, and bewitch me. —Caroline McCullagh, author of American Trivia

Every page instructs, delights, and entrances readers—often all at once. —Rod L. Evans, author of Tyrannosaurus Lex

With fascinating etymologies and letter patterns of more than 400 everyday words, bestselling language writer Richard Lederer offers insights into the most bedazzling, beguiling, and bewitching words in the English language. Readers will discover why William Shakespeare may be hiding in the Old Testament; why "run" is the longest word in English; how people's names become common words; and how the Bible, mythology, the sea, the land, show business, and games spark words and phrases in everyday vocabulary. Chock-full of transfixing word histories, magical letter play, and hilarious puns, Amazing Words is an essential book for wordaholics, logolepts, and verbivores.