CONTENTS Introduction A Whole World of Amazing Words Companion Ukulele Caribou Mummy Kookaburra Zero Worm Royalty Karaoke Guru Jaguar Safari Language Families Author’s Note 5 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32
INTRODUCTION A Whole World of Amazing Words Every day we use words to talk about ourselves and the world we live in But look closely and you will see that they are so much more than just ways to describe things It’s true that there’s a word for almost everything you can see think smell touch or do Words allow us to tell stories or discuss ideas They even shape the way we see the universe around us But every word also contains a hidden story of its own It can tell us about a place or a time long ago or connect us with people on the other side of the world Some words once meant something completely different from what they mean now Others have hardly changed at all but might have traveled halfway across the world Languages are always evolving and developing in exciting ways Inside this book are 12 words from the English language that have surprising stories You might know what they mean in English already or you might not But you’ll also discover what they literally meant a long time ago Look carefully at the artwork that illustrates each word Each picture shows the old meaning of the word often combined with the new one Between the words and the pictures in this book you can see a few pieces of the incredible puzzle that is our language So jump in and discover a whole world of amazing words 5
