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Coined By God: Words and Phrases That First Appear in English Translations of the Bible
by Stanley Malless, Jeffrey McQuain
Product Group: Book
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (2003-02)
ISBN: 0393020452
EAN: 9780393020458
Dewy Decimal #: 428.1
Hardcover: 256 pages
Edition: 1
SKU: V107WLH
Condition: Used: Good
Comments: Ex-Library, with the usual library markings. Has Dust Jacket. 100% satisfaction guaranteed. All orders include an e-Book about starting your own Internet Business in PDF format. FREE Domestic DELIVERY CONFIRMATION! We ship daily Mon-Sat and will let you know when your item has shipped along with your e/DC number. [HI, AK, PR, VI, GUAM, SAIPAN & West Coast customers, please use Expedited Shipping, otherwise it may take longer than the estimated 14 business days.] Items are from a smoke free and air conditioned environment.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
From "Appetite" to "Liberty, " the Bible has been one of the richest sources for introducing words and concepts into the English language. Even the names of the biblical books, from "Genesis" to "Revelation, " have enlarged the English vocabulary. Not only did hundreds of words come into English when biblical translators used them, but so did dozens of now common phrases, from "blood money" to "salt of the earth." The authors cite chapter and verse and trace the words right up to today's headlines. Each entry is a window onto the often-forgotten biblical story that gave rise to the word. Arranged from A to Z, and reader-friendly regardless of faith, the book offers entries about biblical words and phrases that have moved into the general culture. Included is a brief chronology of the English translations of the Bible as well as indexes for source and translator.
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Customer Reviews
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Interesting tidbits
Rating  (3)
Date: 2004-12-12
5 out of 5 customers found this reveiw helpful
If you find reading dictionaries, reference books or history books fascinating, you may like this little book. It truly is interesting to me how much the English language owes to the realm of religious writing. In all fairness, interesting not fascinating, hence the rating.
The text does not read like a dictionary so it isn't too hard to comprehend and most readers will polish this off in a couple weeks even at a liesurely pace. However, I would classify this book as a reference book since that may be where you find the most use for it and not something you just sit down and read, unless you are a trivia buff of sorts.
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cute and enlightening. and contains SEX! ...
Rating  (4)
Date: 2003-05-26
9 out of 11 customers found this reveiw helpful
McQuain, a former researcher for William Safire's weekly On Language column in The Sunday New York Times, with Mr. Malless, have compiled a book of words in English that first appeared and were coined for the King James English translation version of the Bible. Words like Adoption, Treasure, Appetite, Liberty, First Fruits, Novelty, Nurse, Busybody, Land of Nod, "holier-than-thou", Crime, Cucumber (cucumeres), Ivory Tower, botch, brother's keeper, sex, "coat of many colors", bundle, bloodthirsty, and Sprinkler are included. "Left wing", I had thought came from the French National Assembly. But I was wrong, it was created as a term during the translation of 1 Maccabees 9:16. "Stiff-necked" was also coined for the KJV (Act 7:51). The word "irrevocable", was coined in order to translate a sentence in Ezekiel, derived from Latin for "may not be called back again." The word was also briefly coined for the bible. A fun quick read to review and review for any lexicon irregular.
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