This surprising compendium of 1,000 facts about words, language and etymology is here to inspire your curiosity and delight in discovery. In Word Drops, you can delve into a smattering of unexpected connections and weird juxtapositions, stumble upon a new or remarkable word, or learn of many a bizarre etymological quirk or tall tale.- Did you know that the bowl made by cupping your hands together is called a gowpen?- And speaking of bowls, the earliest known reference to bowling in English dates from 1555, when bowling alleys were banned by an Act of Parliament.- And that ties in nicely with the fact that the English called the Germans 'Alleymen' during the First World War.- But in Navajo, Germany is called Béésh Bich'ahii Bikéyah-or 'metal cap-wearer land'.Word Drops is a language fact book unlike any other, its linguistic tidbits all falling together into one long interconnected chain just like the example above with each fact neatly 'dropping' into place beside the next.What's more, throughout, footnotes are used to give some informative and intriguing background to some of the most bizarre facts, covering everything from traditional Inuit games to the origin of the Bellini cocktail, from the precise length of one 'jiffy' to what the Romans thought hoopoe birds ate, and from what to expect on a night out with Dr Johnson to Samuel Pepys's cure for a hangover. Want to know the longest palindrome in Morse code, or who The Great Masticator was? Curious to know what Norwegian steam is, or what a jäääär is? The answers are all here.For all of the logofascinated among us, this is an immensely pleasurable and unpredictable collection that is guaranteed to raise eyebrows (the literal meaning, incidentally, of supercilious).'Very jolly and all fascinating stuff. I'm sure it will solve a lot of people's Christmas present problems. Or it certainly should do.' -- Jonathon Green, lexicographer & author of Green's Dictionary of Slang'Fantastic' -- Moose Allain'If words were calories, this book would have you breaking the scales. To support my outrageous claim I refer you to urban legends which assert that certain brands of savoury snacks have 'something in them' which makes the brain crave more and more until the whole packet is gone. Whatever that something is, Paul Anthony Jones has imbibed plenty of it before compiling this endearing little book.' -- blogger Richard Littledale'For the bookish, the wordists, the nerdists, the swots... Paul Anthony Jones has compiled you the most absorbing and fascinating dip-in tome you will find all year ... Word Drops is very much a book to dip in and out of. It's a series of endless (but linked) words, coupled to their origins, meanings and a quantity of footnotes so great that they would put even David Foster Wallace to shame [...] Word Drops is a nerdist's paradise. An intricately researched and elegantly put together collection of wordy nuggets. I challenge you to flick through the book, open it at any page and not find something worth sharing with someone else.' --blogger MadamJ-Mo'It's hard to imagine anyone not being charmed by this breezy medley of self-contained yet interconnected miscellany. Once you pick up the string, you'll be tempted to keep pulling till you reach the end, and how quickly that takes may depend chiefly on how often you stop to share its contents with a neighbour.' -- blogger Stan Carey'Joy for the language-addicted!' -- Ian McMillan, Radio Presenter, Writer, Man About Town'A succinct, charming assemblage of unusual words' -- Greg Jenner, author of A Million Years in a Day'Brilliant for anyone interested in the effervescent oddness of English' --Stig Abell, Managing Editor, The Sun

    In Righting the Mother Tongue, the author of A Left-Hand Turn Around the World brings us the tangled story of English Spelling, from Olde English to email. Utterly captivating, deliciously edifying, and extremely witty, Righting the Mother Tongue is a treat for the language lover—a book that belongs in every personal library, right next to Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, and the works of Bill Bryson and Simon Winchester.

     In the days following the Pope’s death, a cardinal is found brutally murdered in a chapel in Rome, his eyes gouged and his hands cut off. Called in for the grisly case, police inspector Paola Dicanti learns that another cardinal was recently found dead; he had also been tortured. Desperate to find the killer before another victim dies, Paola’s investigation is soon joined by Father Anthony Fowler—an American priestand former Army intelligence officer examining sexual abuse in the Church, who knows far more about the killer than Paola could possibly imagine. As Paola and Father Anthony struggle through a maze of tantalizing clues, they begin to question whether someone in the Vatican is aiding their cause or abetting a murderer. And when evidence leads them to powerful figures within the Church hierarchy, their own pursuit of the truth may make them the next pawns to be sacrificed in a terrifying and deadly game. A dazzling, impossible-to-put-down thriller, Juan Gómez-Jurado’s God’s Spy marks the arrival of a major new talent to the contemporary suspense fiction scene.

    Learn how to reach fluency in your goal language fast, fun and easily.

    A wonderul reference guide to the English language no home should be without one.

    It examines the critical reactions to the different theories of second language acquisition.

    Including entries for many more words, the new edition also lists more than 25,000 additional references to classical, intertestamental, Early Christian, and modern literature.In this edition, Frederick W. Danker's broad knowledge of Greco-Roman literature, as well as papyri and epigraphs, provides a more panoramic view of the world of Jesus and the New Testament. Danker has also introduced a more consistent mode of reference citation, and has provided a composite list of abbreviations to facilitate easy access to this wealth of information.Perhaps the single most important lexical innovation of Danker's edition is its inclusion of extended definitions for Greek terms. For instance, a key meaning of "episkopos" was defined in the second American edition as overseer; Danker defines it as "one who has the responsibility of safeguarding or seeing to it that something is done in the correct way, guardian." Such extended definitions give a fuller sense of the word in question, which will help avoid both anachronisms and confusion among users of the lexicon who may not be native speakers of English.Danker's edition of Bauer's Wörterbuch will be an indispensable guide for Biblical and classical scholars, ministers, seminarians, and translators.

    It's an occasionally ribald, frequently witty and unerringly erudite guided tour of the secret labyrinth that lurks beneath the English language, taking in monks and monkeys, film buffs and buffaloes, and explaining precisely what the Rolling Stones have to do with gardening.

    Based on the authors' years of experience as ESL teachers and their rigorous review of past exams, this book offers proven vocabulary-building activities and exercises. Appropriate for students pursuing all academic disciplines, it features: -400 words in key categories, including food, computers, society, history, finance, politics, friendship, science, the arts, and more-Many skill-building activities and exercises, including paraphrasing, synonym and antonym matching, and prefix and suffix identification-Proven strategies for incorporating new words into everyday vocabulary-Special sections on synonyms, roots, prefixes and suffixes, and sentence structure

    A newly revised and updated French dictionary offers more than 130,000 contemporary references and 215,000 translations, along with thousands of idiomatic phrases for the French business traveler, tourist, or student.

    The Natural Approach, widely associated with Tracy Terrell, introduces students to language inductively, by exposing them to vocabulary and structures in the context of lively activities. In this communicative approach, grammar explanations and practice are an aid to leaning the language, not an end in themselves. The Natural Approach in general - and Kontakte 3rd edition in particular - are highly communicative and create a spontaneous and low-anxiety classroom atmosphere in which the focus is first on comprehension, then on communication. Kontakte 3rd edition emphasizes culture as well as communication, with a variety of boxes, readings, and interactive culture-based activities. The third edition of Kontakte also includes a new listening comprehension tape that instructors can use in class as well as a new video, new interactive software and additional new supplements.

    A revised and updated edition of a humorous primer on the English language, expanded for an American audience, contains entries on correct and questionable usage, a glossary, and a pronunciation guide.

    It tells of Aldo’s miraculous healing and their supernatural journey since a car accident almost claimed Aldo’s life in 2004. The book contains journal entries in Aldo’s own handwriting wherein he warns the bride of Christ to be ready for the soon arrival of the King. During Aldo’s coma Jesus took him to heaven and hell. “Aldo rarely wanted to talk or write about hell. Jesus said he had to wait for the right time,” Retha explains. She goes on to say, “That time is now here. He recently told me Jesus said to him, ‘Aldo, tell My bride – BE PREPARED, I am coming soon.’” Aldo’s letters will open your eyes to the reality of heaven and hell and the implications of your choices here on earth. The book explains that the road of dying to self and living in Christ is what purifies the bride, and this can only be done if you walk by faith and not by sight – believing that God is who He says He is.

    Advice on conflict resolution and genuine intimacy. The author doesnt forget to include treatments on couple crises, ruptures, and the mourning of heartbreak as a previous step to be prepared to fall in love again.

    Now at last here's a feast for them and other verbivores. Eat up!-Barbara WallraffSenior Editor at The Atlantic Monthly and author of Word CourtPraise for A Word a Day"AWADies will be familiar with Anu Garg's refreshing approach to words: words are fun and they have fascinating histories. The people who use them have curious stories to tell too, and this collection incorporates some of the correspondence received by the editors at the AWAD site, from advice on how to outsmart your opponent in a duel (or even a truel) to a cluster of your favorite mondegreens."-John Simpson, Chief Editor, Oxford English Dictionary"A banquet of words! Feast and be nourished!"-Richard Lederer, author of The Miracle of LanguageWritten by the founder of the wildly popular A Word A Day Web site (www.wordsmith.org), this collection of unusual, obscure, and exotic English words will delight writers, scholars, crossword puzzlers, and word buffs of every ilk. The words are grouped in intriguing categories that range from "Portmanteaux" to "Words That Make the Spell-Checker Ineffective." each entry includes a concise definition, etymology, and usage example-and many feature fascinating and hilarious commentaries by A Word A Day subscribers and the authors.