The Secret Life of Words
Page 55
priest
prima donna
printing
problem
procrastination
progressive
proletariat
promenade
propaganda
property
propone
proposer
pro rata
provocateur
prude
psyche
psychedelic
psychiatrist
psychoanalysis
psychotic
puberty
public opinion
publish
pudenda
puffin
pukka
puma
pump
pumped and dumped
pumpkin
pundit
punkah
puppyish
purchase
purdah
purée
purgatory
purity
putsch
pyjamas
quack, quackery
quantum
quark
quartz
quilt
quinoa
quisling
quokka
rabbit
raccoon
raclette
radioactive
radioactivity
radiography
radish
raft
rajah
rajput
rake
raki
ransack
rape
rapprochement
ratatouille
ravioli
real estate
realpolitik
realtor
receipt
redowa
reef
reflets
refresh
refugee
regatta
reindeer
reinsurance
relatively
relativity
remoulade
rencontre
rendezvous
replica
repression
reprobate
resemblance
resolve
restaurant
résumer
retrocopulation
retrograde
revenue
reviewery
ribaudry
rich
ridicule
rinc
ringlet
rip-off, le
rise
risqué
road rage
robot
rocket (food)
rodeo
Rodinesque
rojas
romantic
roomy
root
rotisserie
rotten
rottweiler
rouble
roustabout
rover
rucksack
rugged
rum (drink)
rum (strange)
ruse
ryot
sacquenummener
sacrament
sacred
safari
saffron
sahib
sail
saint
sake
saker
sala
salade niçoise
salon
saltimbocca
salvation
salvo
same
samizdat
samovar
sampaguita
sampan
samurai
sanatoria
sanctimonious
Sandinista
sang-froid
sans-culotte
Sanskrit
santé
sapsago
saquenockot
Saracen
sarafan
sarong
sash
sashay
sashimi
sassafras
Satan
sate
satin
saturnine
sauerkraut
sauna
savoir faire
savoir vivre
sawhorse
saxophone
say
scab
scandal
scant
scapegoat
scare
scarlet
scenario
sceptical
scepticity
schadenfreude
schlep see shlep
schlock
schmaltz
schmuck
schnapps
school
schooner
schtick
schwartzer
science
scone
scorched earth
score
scout
scowl
scrotum
scrub
sculpt, sculptor, sculpture
scum
scuola
sdrucciola
seckanauk
second-rate
secretarial
secure
see
seemliness
seersucker
selah
self-confidence
self-consciousness
self-esteem
self-help
selfhood
self-knowledge
self-pity
selvage
sensibility
sentimental
sepoy
sequoia
serab
serendipity
serf
series
serious
sermon
serpentcleide
servant
service
serviette
sex
sex drive
shabash
shabby
shahada
shale
shalwar
shaman
shamble
shampoo
shanghai (verb)
shanty
sharia law
shashlik
Shavian
shawl
shchekotiki
shea butter
sheep
sherbet
shiatsu
shibboleth
shield
shifta
shih-tzu
shiitake mushrooms
Shinto
shiraz grape
shirt
shit
shlep (schlep)
shogun
shoot the wounded
shopping
show one’s colours
shrapnel
shrub
shura
sideburn
sidewalk
siesta
signor
sikua ruutu
silk
silverweed
sin
sine qua non
sircar
sirocco
sixth sense
sjambok
ska
skeleton
sketch
ski
skillet
skin
skipper
skirt
skol
skulduggery
skunk
sky
slapstick
slaughterhouse
sleigh
slice of life
slivovitz
slogan
sloop
smoke (tobacco)
smorgasbord
smuggle
snack
sneaker millionaires
snickersee
snoop
snort
sociology
sociopath
sofa
soi-disant
soirée
soko
solitude
sombrero
somewhat
souvenance
Soviet
&nbs
p; soy
space-time
spaghetti
spam (Internet)
Spanish (epithet)
spanner
species
specimen
spectrum
spendsavour
spider
spinach
spincop
split
split-level
spontaneous
spool
spring chicken
spritzer
spry
sputnik
squark
squash
squatter
squaw
stakeholder
stampede
stanza
starlet
status
status quo
stemming the tide
stench
steppe
stereoscope
stereotype
stiletto
stoop
storm
stream
stream of consciousness
street
strenuous
Strindbergian
stripe
strong
strudel
stucco
studio
stunt
style
subtle matter
sudak
sudoku
sugar
suit (legal)
summit
summum jus est summa injuria
sunk without trace
superman
sure
surmount
surréalisme
survival of the fittest
sushi
suspiration
sutra
swastika
swine
symmetry
syphilis
syrup
tabla
tableau
taboo
tabouleh
taco
tact
taffeta
taipan
take
taleggio
talisman
talk
Tamagotchi
tamarind
tambourgi
tampan
tandoor
tank
tanner
tantrum
tapioca
tapis
tariff
tarn
tarot
tattoo
tea
teak
tea-party
teapot
tea-things
technocrat
teenager
telegram
television
ten-gallon hat
tenserie
tepee
tequila
terra incognita
terrapins
terraqueous
terribilità
terrorist
tête-à-tête
thalweg
than
that
the
theft
their
therapeutic
thetans
they
thief
think
throat
thug
thugyi
Tiepolesque
tiffin
tight
tiktaalik
tinsel
tiramisu
tittlebat
to
tobacco
toboggan
toddy
todeswunsch
tofu
tokoloshe
tomahawk
tomato
tom-tom
tonga
tonic
torpedo
totara
totem
toucan
touch bottom
touché
tournure de phrase
tourtière
town
Trafalgar
traffic
traffiques
tragedy
trait
translator
travail
travesty
trek
trekschuit
tribute
trigger
troika
trompe l’oeil
troubadour
trounce
trousers
truncheon
tsar see czar
tsetse
tui
tulip
tumult
tundra
tuque
turgidous
turn tail
turquoise
tutu
tycoon
typhoon
uh-huh
uhuru
ukase
umbrella
unangry
unberisped
uncanny
uncheery
under way
undersell
ungainliness
ungorgeous
uniformitarianism
unlucid
unmangled
unmixed
unphilosopher
unpolluted
unshakable
unwrongful
upfurled
uppish
uterus
valet
vamos
vampire
vanilla
vaporescence
veena
vegetable
veldt
vendetta
venison
ventositous
veranda
verbatim
verbunkos
verfremdungseffekt
versatile
verst
vert
vertigine
vertigo
Vespa
vetiver
vettura
vetturino
Viagra
viceroy
Victorian
vigilante
vigneron
villeggiatura
violin
virtue
virtuosos
vis-à-vis
viscount
visevase
vitrine
vodka
vokzal
volume
volupté
voodoo
vorsprung durch technik
waffle
wainscot
wall
wallet
walnut
walrus
wampum
wanderlust
want
wapiti
war
water-closet
watermelon
weak
weekend, le
weep
weltanschauung
weltpolitik
weltschmerz
wer
wheelsaddle
whimsicality
whisky
whitewort
wicked (as positive)
widow
wiggle
wigwam
wildebeest
wind-drift
window
wine
winsome
wishful thinking
with
wizened
wok
wolf
wonga
wood
woodchuck
word
workaholic
workshop
wrecker
wrong
wunderkind
yacht
yam
Yankee
yé-yé
yen
yin and yang
yippee
ylang-ylang
ylp/ylpend
yo-yo
yodel
yoga
yoghurt
yoke
yours sincerely
youth club
youth culture
yuft
zaftig
zakuski
zamindar
zany
Zapatista
zeal
zebra
zeitgeist
zen
zenana
zenith
zeppelin
zero
zigzag
zinc
zoetrope (or daedalum)
Copyright © 2008 by Henry Hitchings All rights reserved Originally published in 2008 by John Murray (Publishers), Great Britain
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
18 West 18th Street, New York 10011
Published in the United States by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
www.fsgbooks.com
eISBN 9781429941570
First eBook Edition : March 2011
First American edition, 2008
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hitchings, Henry, 1974 –
The secret life of words : how English became English / Henry Hitchings
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-374-25410-0 (alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-374-25410-9 (alk. paper)
1. English language—Lexicography—History. 2. English language—Etymology. I. Title.
PE1580H45 2008
422—dc22
2008026055