Jones Paul Anthony. Haggard Hawks and Paltry Poltroons: The Origins of English in Ten Words

London: Constable, 2013. — 116 pages. — ISBN: 978-1-4721-0941-5.What do the following ten words all have in common - haggard, mews, codger, arouse, musket, poltroon, gorge, allure, pounce and turn-tail? All fairly familiar and 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, and so on.This, essentially, is what Ten Words is all about - the book collects together hundreds of the most intriguing, surprising and little known histories and etymologies of a whole host of English words. From ancient place names to unusual languages, and obscure professions to military slang, this is a fascinating treasure trove of linguistic facts.Ten Words Derived from Places in Britain
Ten Words Derived from Places in France
Ten Words Derived from Places in Ancient Greece
Ten Words Derived from Places in Europe
Ten Words Derived from Places in America
Ten British Words Not Used in American English
Ten Words Borrowed from Unusual Languages
Ten Words Invented by Shakespeare
Ten Words Invented by Other Writers
Ten Words Derived from ‘Head’
Ten Words Derived from ‘Heart’
Ten Words Derived from ‘Hand’
Ten Words Derived from ‘Foot’
Ten Words Derived from ‘Light’
Ten Words Derived from ‘Bird’
Ten Words Derived from ‘Mother’
Ten Words Derived from ‘Father’
Ten Words Derived from ‘Word’
Ten Words Derived from Numbers
Ten Words Derived from Colours
Ten Words Derived from Shapes
Ten Words Derived from Food
Ten Words Derived from Clothing
Ten Words Derived from Music
Ten Words Derived from the Theatre
Ten Words Derived from Literary Characters
Ten Words Derived from Greek Mythology
Ten Words Derived from Sports and Games
Ten Words Derived from Falconry
Ten Words Derived from Horses
Ten Words Derived from Animals
Ten Words Derived from Rocks and Stones
Ten Words Derived from Waterways
Ten Words Derived from the Human Body
Ten Words Derived from Medicine
Ten Words Derived from Punishments
Ten Words Derived from Weapons and Warfare
Ten Words Derived from People
Ten First Names in the Dictionary
Ten Magic Words
Ten Animal Names
Ten Things You Didn’t Know Had Names
Ten Portmanteaux
Ten Words that Were Originally Phrases
Ten Imitative Words
Ten Words with Unusual Alternative Meanings
Ten Fake Words
Ten Folk Etymologies
Ten Words of Unknown Origin
Ten Words of Unusual Origin