Living Bibliography


Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society

 — (Reissue) edition (26 Feb 2010)

It is not a dictionary (not even a technical one); it is not a book on the etimology of words; it will hardly improve your talking skills. Rather, it is a fascinating book on the constant change of culture and how this is reflected in everyday (and not so everyday) words of the English language. You will walk away humble, overwhelmed by the richness and the violence of culture’s impact on words.

This book is extremely helpful for stopping to ponder what we really mean by words we tend to toss around thoughtlessly: for example Class, Culture, Community. Williams takes a revealing and amazingly well researched historical approach by considering etymological word origins, and how the meanings of words change over time.

in-depth analysis of the cultural, social, economic, political, and “academic” semantic modifications of our language

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