How Happy Became Homosexual and Other Mysterious Semantic Shifts

(8)
How Happy Became Homosexual and Other Mysterious Semantic Shifts image
ISBN-10:

1553802306

ISBN-13:

9781553802303

Author(s): Richler, Howard
Released: Jun 20, 2013
Publisher: Ronsdale Press
Format: Paperback, 250 pages

Description:

Literary Nonfiction. LGBT Studies. An old joke goes like this: What's the difference between a good girl and a nice girl?

Answer: The good girl goes to a party, goes home then goes to bed, whereas the nice girl goes to the party, goes to bed, then goes home. The distinction made between the two types of young ladies would probably have been appreciated by Shakespeare. While we think of "nice" nowadays as being a synonym for pleasant it wasn't always so; originally the word's meaning conveyed the naughtiness implied in the joke. It wasn't until the middle of the 18th century that this word conveyed the sense of pleasantness that we now associate with the word.

In his book HOW HAPPY BECAME HOMOSEXUAL AND OTHER MYSTERIOUS SEMANTIC SHIFTS, Richler educates and entertains us while explaining how words such as "nice" and "gay" have changed meanings. Surprisingly, we discover that even many of our nouns and verbs have been in a constant state of flux. For example, originally "jeopardy" was a term used in chess and "to fizzle" meant "to break wind silently." This morphing of meanings is ever-present, and Richler explains how, even in the last twenty years or so, words such as "fulsome" are in the midst of a reversal of meaning. So whether you are gay (happy), gay (homosexual) or a melancholy heterosexual, Richler will lead you into a word-world of entertaining change.

Best prices to buy, sell, or rent ISBN 9781553802303




Frequently Asked Questions about How Happy Became Homosexual and Other Mysterious Semantic Shifts

You can buy the How Happy Became Homosexual and Other Mysterious Semantic Shifts book at one of 20+ online bookstores with BookScouter, the website that helps find the best deal across the web. Currently, the best offer comes from and is $ for the .

The price for the book starts from $7.17 on Amazon and is available from 5 sellers at the moment.

If you’re interested in selling back the How Happy Became Homosexual and Other Mysterious Semantic Shifts book, you can always look up BookScouter for the best deal. BookScouter checks 30+ buyback vendors with a single search and gives you actual information on buyback pricing instantly.

As for the How Happy Became Homosexual and Other Mysterious Semantic Shifts book, the best buyback offer comes from and is $ for the book in good condition.

The How Happy Became Homosexual and Other Mysterious Semantic Shifts book is in very low demand now as the rank for the book is 5,223,171 at the moment. A rank of 1,000,000 means the last copy sold approximately a month ago.

Not enough insights yet.