num_pages: 288
description: When did you last hear someone refer to the wireless ? What was the original paraphernalia ? Would you wear a billycock ?Language is always changing, and in A Hodge-Podge of Words Vanishing from Our Vocabulary Michael Quinion has gathered together some fascinating examples of words and meanings which have vanished from our language. Sometimes a word is lost when the thing it describes becomes obsolete,sometimes it survives in a figurative sense while the original meaning is lost, and sometimes it simply gives way to a more popular alternative. The story of these and many other words opens a window into the lives of past speakers of the English language.
language: English
title: Gallimaufry: A Hodgepodge of our Vanishing Vocabulary
titlecomplete: Gallimaufry: A Hodgepodge of our Vanishing Vocabulary
genres: Reference, Nonfiction, Language
ratings_count: 42
publisher: Oxford University Press