Product details
- ISBN 9781851246779
- Dimensions: 156 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 10 Sep 2026
- Publisher: Bodleian Library
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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Silly season, spring chicken, Shrovetide, dog days, Halloween, wassail, Snowtober, Hogmanay and over 100 other words and phrases are brought together here to show how seasonal vocabulary has become one of the most productive areas of the English lexicon. Words associated with spring, summer, autumn – or fall – and winter, along with ‘season’ itself, have long been used creatively in such worlds as commerce, politics and the arts; music and painting especially provide famous cases of the popular appeal of the 'four seasons'. The entries in this book, alongside idioms, extracts from poetry and exquisite engravings by Eric Ravilious, demonstrate how these words and phrases have spread throughout the language.
Each entry gives an account of historical origins, tracing the development of meaning over time, and concluding with examples of current usage in everyday situations, some of which are decidedly unexpected. Appendices provide etymologies for the months of the year and wonderfully evocative folklore names for moons.
Few other lexical domains would bring together St Augustine, Antonio Vivaldi, James Joyce and Stormzy – just four of some 200 personalities that enliven the pages of this fascinating book.
DAVID CRYSTAL is a writer, editor, lecturer and broadcaster on language, and honorary professor of linguistics at Bangor University. His many books include The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language (CUP 3rd edn, 2019), A Date with Language (Bodleian Library Publishing, 2023), Bookish Words (Bodleian Library Publishing, 2025) and William Tyndale and the English Language (Bodleian Library Publishing, 2026). He lives online at www.davidcrystal.com.
ERIC RAVILIOUS (1903–1942) was a British painter, book illustrator and designer. He is known for his depictions of south-east England and also of urban scenes of the interwar period, and was an outstanding wood engraver. He died in the Second World War.
