Every Word Tells a Story
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Every Word Tells a Story
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Narrated by:
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Tom Read Wilson
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By:
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Tom Read Wilson
About this listen
Tom Read Wilson is here to take us on a rip-roaring tour through some of the most astonishing and amusing words in the English language with Every Word Tells a Story.
See how the English language evolved in this extraordinary exploration of the origins of everyday words. Full of funny stories and fascinating facts, Tom Read Wilson knows even the most ordinary-sounding word can have the most surprising story behind it!
Did you know, for instance, that:
- The word "bloomers" comes from Amelia Bloomer, who was a women's rights activist and owner and editor of the first U.S. newspaper edited by and for women, who wanted to move more freely in her knickers?
- Or that the word "daisy" comes from the Old English dæges eage, meaning "day’s eye", because the petals of a daisy open at dawn and close at dusk?
- The word "easel" comes from the Dutch word "ezel", meaning donkey, because both are dependable and suitable for carrying a load?
- Or that English nicknames for police officers, "bobbies" and "peelers", both come from the names of Sir Robert Peel, British prime minister in the 1800s and creator of the first modern police force?
Each fascinating word is explored through a quirky, amusing story alongside the etymology, word origin and definition.
Every Word Tells a Story is a perfect book for young wordsmiths, encouraging kids and adults alike to have fun whilst learning about language.
©2022 Tom Read Wilson (P)2022 words & picturesListeners also enjoyed...
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3 out of 5 stars
-
TERRIBLE Narration!
- By Kayla I on 07-08-22
By: Terry Pratchett
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Artful
- By: Ali Smith
- Narrated by: Ali Smith
- Length: 4 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 32
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 30
In 2012, Ali Smith delivered the Weidenfeld lectures on European comparative literature at St. Anne’s College, Oxford. Those lectures, presented here, took the shape of discursive stories that refused to be tied down to either fiction or the essay form. Thus, Artful is narrated by a character who is haunted - literally - by a former lover, the writer of a series of lectures about art and literature. A hypnotic dialogue unfolds between storytelling and a meditation on art that encompasses love, grief, memory, and revitalization.
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3 out of 5 stars
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#Reality/Loss/Mythology
- By Ellen K. on 11-14-18
By: Ali Smith
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Poemcrazy
- Freeing Your Life with Words
- By: Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge
- Narrated by: Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 39
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
Following the success of several recent inspirational and practical books for would-be writers, Poemcrazy is a perfect guide for everyone who ever wanted to write a poem but was afraid to try. Writing workshop leader Susan Wooldridge shows how to think, use one's senses, and practice exercises that will make poems more likely to happen.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Her Words, Her Voice...
- By S. Schultz on 11-21-14
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Ask a Historian
- 50 Surprising Answers to Things You Always Wanted to Know
- By: Greg Jenner
- Narrated by: Dan Schreiber, Greg Jenner, Janina Ramirez, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 49
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 47
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 47
Responding to fifty genuine questions from the public, Greg Jenner takes you on an entertaining tour through history from the Stone Age to the Swinging Sixties, revealing the best and most surprising stories, facts and historical characters from the past. From ancient joke books, African empires and the invention of meringues, to mummies, mirrors and menstrual pads—Ask A Historian is a deliciously amusing and informative smorgasbord of historical curiosities.
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5 out of 5 stars
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best bonus content ever!
- By Matthew K Wendelken on 03-24-22
By: Greg Jenner
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The Second Book of General Ignorance
- Everything You Think You Know Is (Still) Wrong
- By: John Lloyd, John Mitchinson
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 116
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 90
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 89
Just when you thought that it was safe to start showing off again, John Lloyd and John Mitchinson are back with another busload of mistakes and misunderstandings. Here is a new collection of simple, perfectly obvious questions you'll be quite certain you know the answers to. Whether it's history, science, sports, geography, literature, language, medicine, the classics, or common wisdom, you'll be astonished to discover that everything you thought you knew is still hopelessly wrong.
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5 out of 5 stars
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It's all stuff from QI
- By Bonnie Kennedy on 04-07-21
By: John Lloyd, and others
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The Emissary
- By: Yoko Tawada, Margaret Mitsutani - translator
- Narrated by: Julian Cihi
- Length: 4 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 85
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 70
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Story4 out of 5 stars 69
Japan, after suffering from a massive irreparable disaster, cuts itself off from the world. Children are so weak they can barely stand or walk: the only people with any get-go are the elderly. Mumei lives with his grandfather Yoshiro, who worries about him constantly. They carry on a day-to-day routine in what could be viewed as a post-Fukushima time, with all the children born ancient - frail and gray-haired, yet incredibly compassionate and wise. Mumei may be enfeebled and feverish, but he is a beacon of hope, full of wit and free of self-pity and pessimism.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Tedious. Waste of time.
- By Kenneth McGovern on 02-17-19
By: Yoko Tawada, and others
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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Book 1
- By: J.K. Rowling
- Narrated by: Jim Dale
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 196,546
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 172,514
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Story5 out of 5 stars 172,001
Harry Potter has never even heard of Hogwarts when the letters start dropping on the doormat at number four, Privet Drive. Addressed in green ink on yellowish parchment with a purple seal, they are swiftly confiscated by his grisly aunt and uncle. Then, on Harry's eleventh birthday, a great beetle-eyed giant of a man called Rubeus Hagrid bursts in with some astonishing news: Harry Potter is a wizard, and he has a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. An incredible adventure is about to begin!
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5 out of 5 stars
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A great reading of the wrong book
- By P on 11-24-15
By: J.K. Rowling
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A Million Years in a Day
- A Curious History of Everyday Life from the Stone Age to the Phone Age
- By: Greg Jenner
- Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 90
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 84
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Story4 out of 5 stars 83
Who invented beds? When did we start cleaning our teeth? How old are wine and beer? Which came first: the toilet seat or toilet paper? What was the first clock? Every day, from the moment our alarm clock wakes us in the morning until our head hits our pillow at night, we all take part in rituals that are millennia old. Structured around one ordinary day, A Million Years in a Day reveals the astonishing origins and development of the daily practices we take for granted.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Super interesting!
- By Brandon on 07-07-16
By: Greg Jenner
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Greek Mythology
- Classic Stories of the Greek Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, and Monsters (Classic Mythology, Book 1)
- By: Scott Lewis
- Narrated by: Madison Niederhauser
- Length: 3 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 38
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 36
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Story4 out of 5 stars 36
This captivating audiobook will take you on a beautiful journey through the fascinating world of Greek mythology. From the beginning of the cosmos to the Odyssey, be ready to venture into an exciting world of love, loyalty, infidelity, vengeance, deception, and intrigue!
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5 out of 5 stars
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A great way to gain insight to Ancient Greece
- By cosmitron on 07-27-18
By: Scott Lewis
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The Fun Knowledge Encyclopedia
- The Crazy Stories Behind the World's Most Interesting Facts - Trivia Bill's General Knowledge, Volume 1
- By: Bill O'Neill
- Narrated by: Rob Maxwell
- Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 111
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 102
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 101
Are you the trivia buff in your friend group? Maybe you're just always hoping to learn more random facts to keep up your sleeve. Whether you're a regular trivia fanatic or someone looking for a fun audiobook to listen to, this audiobook goes beyond the scope of general knowledge into some of the most interesting facts and intriguing trivia tidbits out there.
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5 out of 5 stars
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this book is awesome!
- By TinkerMel on 09-27-17
By: Bill O'Neill
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The Good Good Pig
- The Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood
- By: Sy Montgomery
- Narrated by: Xe Sands
- Length: 5 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 375
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 328
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 328
A naturalist who spent months at a time living on her own among wild creatures in remote jungles, Sy Montgomery had always felt more comfortable with animals than with people. So she gladly opened her heart to a sick piglet who had been crowded away from nourishing meals by his stronger siblings. Yet Sy had no inkling that this piglet, later named Christopher Hogwood, would not only survive but flourish.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Uplifting memoir of a pig + autobiography
- By Diana on 04-04-19
By: Sy Montgomery
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Spring and All: Facsimile Edition
- New Directions Pearls
- By: William Carlos Williams
- Narrated by: Sean Slater
- Length: 1 hr and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 38
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
A beautiful facsimile of the 1923 original edition which is considered "one of the greatest poems of the twentieth century" by The New York Times. Spring and All is a manifesto of the imagination - a hybrid of alternating sections of prose and free verse that coalesce in dramatic, energetic, and beautifully cryptic statements of how language re-creates the world. Spring and All contains some of Williams' best-known poetry.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Classic!
- By Amazon Customer on 01-25-18
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Spy of the First Person
- By: Sam Shepard
- Narrated by: Michael Shannon
- Length: 1 hr and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 56
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 48
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 47
In searing, beautiful prose, Sam Shepard's extraordinary narrative tells in a brilliant braid of voices the story of an unnamed narrator who traces, before our rapt ears, his memories of work, adventure, and travel as he undergoes medical tests and treatments for a condition that is rendering him more and more dependent on the loved ones who are caring for him. The narrator's memories and preoccupations often echo those of our current moment - for here are stories of immigration and community, inclusion and exclusion, suspicion and trust.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Good Insight
- By Natalie J. Belle MD on 12-28-17
By: Sam Shepard
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Rikki Tikki Tavi
- By: Rudyard Kipling
- Narrated by: Curtis Sisco
- Length: 35 mins
- Abridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 442
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 365
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 366
A young mongoose protects his human family from two murderous cobras. English Nobel laureate Kipling's best story from The Jungle Book collection, "Rikki Tikki Tavi" has been adapted many times to film and television.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Rikki Tikki Tavi
- By Annette on 03-04-13
By: Rudyard Kipling
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The Elements of Eloquence
- Secrets of the Perfect Turn of Phrase
- By: Mark Forsyth
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 5 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,734
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,558
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,530
In his inimitably entertaining and wonderfully witty style, he takes apart famous phrases and shows how you too can write like Shakespeare or quip like Oscar Wilde. Whether you’re aiming to achieve literary immortality or just hoping to deliver the perfect one-liner, The Elements of Eloquence proves that you don’t need to have anything important to say - you simply need to say it well.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Who knew rhetoric could be so much fun?
- By Philo on 10-30-14
By: Mark Forsyth
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Surviving Ireland
- By: Colm Tobin
- Narrated by: Colm Tobin
- Length: 4 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 37
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
It's exhausting being Irish. The constant self-flagellation is enough to put anybody off their breakfast. Why are we so hard on ourselves? Is it the postcolonial overhang following centuries of oppression at the hands of a litany of foreign invaders? Or is it collective guilt for sending Westlife out into the wider world? In Surviving Ireland, acclaimed comedy writer Colm Tobin takes the listener by the hand for a satirical romp through modern Irish life.
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5 out of 5 stars
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very fun
- By Rick on 06-12-19
By: Colm Tobin
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The Hearing Trumpet
- By: Leonora Carrington
- Narrated by: Siân Phillips
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 133
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 118
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Story4 out of 5 stars 119
Surreal and splendidly unconventional, The Hearing Trumpet is an apocalyptic fairy-tale quest about an occult old ladies' home and the spry nonagenarian who ends up there. After coming into possession of a hearing trumpet, 92-year-old Marian Leatherby discovers her son's plans to send her to a nursing home. But this is no ordinary place.... Here there are strange rituals, orgiastic nuns, levitating abbesses, animalistic humans, humanistic animals, a search for the Holy Grail, and a plan to escape to Lapland and knit a tent....
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4 out of 5 stars
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fantastical ride
- By Edward Berry on 01-12-21