AboutTed Nesbitt Expertise I have an interest in the meanings of words and phrases, as well as how and when they became part of the English language. I enjoy
researching idioms, colloquialisms, dialects, and obscurities of
all kinds. I prefer short questions on a particular subject, and
I will not accept lengthy research projects or term papers. NOTE: ALLEXPERTS CLAIMS THAT I TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH TO LATIN AND FROM LATIN TO ENGLISH. I DO NOT. ALLEXPERTS REFUSES TO DELETE THE LATIN-TO-ENGLISH SERVICE -- ONE THAT I DO NOT PROVIDE.
TRUST ME ON THIS: ALLEXPERTS IS WRONG. I DO NOT TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH TO LANGUAGE. LOOK FOR A LANGUAGE EXPERT INSTEAD. ETYMOLOGY AND TRANSLATING SERVICES ARE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT. ALLEXPERTS SHOULD KNOW THAT. ALLEXPERTS DOES NOT KNOW THAT. I HAVE TRIED FOR MANY YEARS TO GET THEM TO CHANGE. THEY WILL NOT. SORRY, BUT I DO NOT TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH TO LATIN.
Experience I am the bibliographic instruction and reference librarian at a public
college. My master's thesis concerns William Faulkner's tragic novels. I formerly taught advanced placement English at two schools in the Philadelphia area.
I have been a member of the grammar and writing section of Allexperts
for more than a year.
Education/Credentials Masters degrees in English, philosophy, and library science.
Question Do you know if there is Morris' Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins on-line? I have 50 phrases to look up. Can you help me please? It's for my diploma work.
Thank you,
Russian Student Olga
Answer Dear Olga:
Morris' "Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins" is NOT available online. You must use a library that owns it, or you must purchase it yourself.
"The Oxford English Dictionary" IS available online, but you must have a subscription to the database, and it is very costly.
Here are the two BEST online sources [very authentic] for finding the meanings of phrases and words in the English language:
THE PHRASE FINDER -- from Sheffield University in England
<http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/index.html>
BREWER'S DICTIONARY OF PHRASE AND FABLE
<http://www.bartleby.com/81/>
I would be glad to help with you "some" phrases that you cannot mind, but there is no way that I could research "50" phrases.
