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Semantic Antics: How and Why Words Change Meaning | 
 enlarge | Author: Sol Steinmetz
Publisher: Random House Reference
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $6.40
You Save: $8.55 (57%)
New (42) Used (13) from $6.40
Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 233808
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.2 x 4.8 x 1.1
ISBN: 0375426124
Dewey Decimal Number: 422
EAN: 9780375426124
ASIN: 0375426124
Publication Date: March 25, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Seasoned seller, well-packed book, swift shipping
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Product Description
"My favorite popular word book of the year"
-William Safire, NY Times 6/22/2008
A fun, new approach to examining etymology!
Many common English words started out with an entirely different meaning than the one we know today. For example:
The word adamant came into English around 855 C.E. as a synonym for 'diamond,' very different from today's meaning of the word: "utterly unyielding in attitude or opinion."
Before the year 1200, the word silly meant "blessed," and was derived from Old English saelig, meaning "happy." This word went through several incarnations before adopting today's meaning: "stupid or foolish."
In Semantic Antics, lexicographer Sol Steinmetz takes readers on an in-depth, fascinating journey to learn how hundreds of words have evolved from their first meaning to the meanings used today.
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| Customer Reviews:
 A short short short version of the Oxford English Dictionary July 11, 2008
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
I bought this book because William Saffire from the New York Times recommended it. Well, I won't buy any more of Saffire recommendations.
The book tells the story of how words have evolved. This could be interesting, but they are printed in alphabetical order, rather than say by pattern of the evolution of meaning, original meaning of words, etc.
The book is therefore a dictionary with very few words. This is particularly problematic because there is another dictionary out there where you learn the origin of words, it is a little book called the Oxford English Dictionary.
For instance, another reviewer here asks 'who would have thought that satellite meant bodyguard?' The OED!. It says of satellite:
1656;"one retained to guard a mans person"
Yes, Semantics Antics does not just list previous meanings, it tells you a brief story, but it is not appealing to read an alphabetical list of stories of words.
What's really a pitty is that the intro to the book sheds some light on how the book could have been written. It gives an overview of the few patterns in which the meaning of words evolves through time; if only the book was organized along those general trends, it would actually add value to simply randomly reading the OED.
 Words To Live By June 30, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Who would have thought words like "nice" and "pretty" meant something completely different hundreds of years ago or that "satellite" referred to a bodyguard? In this extraordinary yet compact book, "Semantic Antics", Sol Steinmetz reviews dozens of words and how they have evolved over time. It's a simple formula...the author presents a word, gives the current and original meanings, describes from what language it is derived and often cites the word or phrase in literature.
Steinmetz begins with several different reasons why words can develop and change over time and adds to that at the end. It serves as a good set of bookends to the text within. Amelioration (upgrading of words) and pejoration (downgrading) appear most often, it seems, as the likely causes for word changes, with the latter far more prevalent. Each entry is brief but just the right length to hold the reader's interest. I highly recommend "Semantic Antics" as a terrific addition to etymology.
Review by a connoisseur of the English language May 28, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I got this book for a friend who is a connoisseur of the English language -- her post-graduate work was on its ancestral beginnings, she taught it in academia, and she was the top techwriter for a major Fortune 100 corporation for 20 years. Here is her assessment:
"At last, a book about the evolution of the English language that is written in a breezy, interesting style! Whether you have an academic or a casual interest in the history of the language, Semantic Antics traces some of the most interesting words in our language from their roots to modern day usage --- in an accurate, non-pedantic manner."
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