Word & phrase origin books

Posted by Bob on June 13, 2000

In Reply to: Word & phrase origin books posted by ESC on June 12, 2000

: There are several good books that give phrase and word origins. And I am determined to own them all! Here are a few of my favorites:

: A Hog on Ice (1948, Harper & Row) by Charles Earle Funk. This is one in a series of four books by Mr. Funk now available in one volume.

: Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins by William and Mary Morris (HarperCollins, New York, 1977, 1988).

: Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings by Gregory Y. Titelman (Random House, New York, 1996).

: Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins by Robert Hendrickson (Fact on File, New York, 1997)

: Listening to America: An Illustrated History of Words and Phrases from Our Lively and Splendid Past by Stuart Berg Flexner (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1982) or any other book by Mr. Flexner.

: Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Volume 1, A-G by J.E. Lighter, Random House, New York, 1994. And, of course H-O.

: Does anyone have other titles to add? I have no shelf space left but I'm always looking for new books to acquire.

The OED. It took ten years of hints before my family bought me one for Xmas.