Фрагмент из книги:
Whether etymologies in our “thick” dictionaries are worth the labor that is spent on them and whether it was prudent to invite a German specialist in Romance linguistics to rewrite the etymologies in the most famous American dictionary of English are clearly a matter of opinion. But one notes with satisfaction that, despite the avowed uselessness, an undertaking like the present one will appeal to those who wish to study the history of the language and even afford them a very pleasant and instructive pastime. The main questions are: Where do we fi nd such people? Is the readership of serious essays on the origin of words limited to professional philologists? These are not idle questions, for while the publisher brings out books to sell them, the author hopes to be noticed and appreciated. So who reads etymological dictionaries? A tolerably good market seems to exist for them.
