ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters in this book. The book talks about the absorbing world of words. Without words there could be no sound structure, no syntax, no grammatical rules. The book shows that words are much more complex than that. It explores the dynamic nature of American English, which welcomes all words and expressions into the fold whether old or new, foreign-born or home-grown. The book discusses a repository of English words and expressions with stories about their origins. It presents a sampling of words from each letter of the alphabet. The book describes how we form new words from existing words or recombinations of their elements. Words are formed through various types of word combining, word shortening, word conversions, and derivations as well as through abbreviations. The book also describes seven types of figurative language: idioms, similes, metaphors, personification, euphemisms, hyperbole, and chiasmus.
