Scapegoats, shambles and shibboleths
I like finding out about the origins of words and phrases – someone noted the other day that I rarely preach a sermon without mentioning the etymology of at least one word. One of the most entertaining sidelines of my research on S T Coleridge was discovering how many of the words and phrases in the English language had been coined by him.
A recent book called Scapegoats, Shambles and Shibboleths is an alphabetical account of words and phrases that come from the King James bible. It's great fun, and would make a good Christmas present.
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Maggi has kept a blog since September 2003, writing about theology and faith, the arts and literature, and a little about life and random nonsense...
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You should check out http://www.etymonline.com if you haven’t already. I find it an invaluable resource, and it’s all the work of one very enthusiastic academic.