Haggard Hawks And Paltry Poltroons - The Origins Of English In Ten
Words

Product Description

What do the following ten words all have in common
- haggard, mews, codger, arouse, musket, poltroon, gorge, allure, pounce & turn-tail? All fairly familiar & straightforward words, after a little digging into their histories it turns out that all of them derive from falconry: the adjective haggard described an adult falcon captured from the wild; mews were the enclosures hawks were kept in whilst moulting; codger is thought to come from 'cadger', the member of a hunting party who carried the birds' perches, & so on. This, essentially, is what Ten Words is all about
- the book collects together hundreds of the most intriguing, surprising & little known histories & etymologies of a whole host of English words. From ancient place names to unusual languages, & obscure professions to military slang, this is a fascinating treasure trove of linguistic facts.