Book picks similar to
The Word Museum: The Most Remarkable English Words Ever Forgotten by Jeffrey Kacirk
non-fiction
reference
language
history
How to Write a Sentence: And How to Read One
Stanley Fish - 2011
Drawing on a wide range of great writers, from Philip Roth to Antonin Scalia to Jane Austen, How to Write a Sentence is much more than a writing manual—it is a spirited love letter to the written word, and a key to understanding how great writing works.
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus (21st Century Reference)
Barbara Ann Kipfer - 1992
This process of linking words together mirrors the way we actually think. With its innovative Concept Index, this thesaurus enhances the traditional function of thesauri; the simple replacement of one word with another. The Concept Index enriches users' understanding of meaning and usage by grouping together main entry words that share a similar idea or property - achieving broad connections of language between such categories as: ACTIONS, CAUSES, LIFE FORMS, QUALITIES, SENSES, etc. The essential reference for the 21st century, this is the most up-to-the-minute thesaurus of American English today. students, professionals and general users will love its easy-to-use dictionary format and will find its reliable, accurate word choices indispensable.
Straight from the Fridge, Dad: A Dictionary of Hipster Slang
Max Décharné - 2000
It's great for decoding your favorite pulp fiction or noir classic.
Complete Plain Words
Ernest A. Gowers - 1948
Current usage of vocabulary and style is explained clearly and sections included, cover: jargon, cliches, spelling and punctuation; ground rules of grammar; superfluous words, using words correctly and concisely, overuse or misuse; sexist language, the influence of science and technology, American English and exemplary clarity.
Lost in Translation: A Life in a New Language
Eva Hoffman - 1989
Eva Hoffman spent her early years in Cracow, among family friends who, like her parents, had escaped the Holocaust and were skeptical of the newly imposed Communist state. Hoffman's parents managed to immigrate to Canada in the 1950s, where Eva was old enough to feel like a stranger--bland food, a quieter life, and schoolmates who hardly knew where Poland was. Still, there were neighbors who knew something of Old World ways, and a piano teacher who was classically Middle European in his neurotic enthusiasm for music. Her true exile came in college in Texas, where she found herself among people who were frightened by and hostile to her foreignness. Later, at Harvard, Hoffman found herself initially alienated by her burgeoning intellectualism; her parents found it difficult to comprehend. Her sense of perpetual otherness was extended by encounters with childhood friends who had escaped Cracow to grow up in Israel, rather than Canada or the United States, and were preoccupied with soldiers, not scholars. Lost in Translation is a moving memoir that takes the specific experience of the exile and humanizes it to such a degree that it becomes relevant to the lives of a wider group of readers.
Applied Linguistics
Guy Cook - 2003
As such it has the difficult task of mediating between academic expertise and lived experience, attempting to reconcile opposed interests and perspectives. This clearly written introduction provides a concise but comprehensive overview of the most pressing and controversial issues surrounding contemporary language use today, including intercultural communication, political persuasion, new technologies, the growth of English, language in education, and foreign language teaching and learning.
Foyle's Philavery
Christopher Foyle - 2007
Some of these words appeal because of their aptness, some for their obscurity, some for their euphony, and some for their quirkiness.
The Well-Spoken Thesaurus: The Most Powerful Ways to Say Everyday Words and Phrases
Tom Heehler - 2011
The fear of mispronouncing or misusing complex words is real and leaves many of us consigned to the lower levels* of the English Language. The secret to eloquence, however, lies in simplicity—the ability to use ordinary words in extraordinary ways.The Well-Spoken Thesaurus is your guide to eloquence, replacing the ordinary with the extraordinary. While a common thesaurus provides only synonyms as mere word-for-word equivalents, The Well-Spoken Thesaurus is filled with* dynamic reinventions of standard words and phrases.*lofty word, pretentious word *know what it is to *lower reaches, lower echelons *awash in, instilled with, dense with, rich in
English with an Accent: Language, Ideology and Discrimination in the United States
Rosina Lippi-Green - 1997
Using examples drawn from a variety of contexts: the classroom, the court, the media and corporate culture, she exposes the way in which discrimination based on accent functions to support and perpetuate social structures and unequal power relations. English with an Accent: focuses on language variation linked to geography and social identity looks at how the media and the entertainment industry work to promote linguistic stereotyping examines how employers discriminate on the basis of accent reveals how the judicial system protects the status quo and reinforces language subordinationThis fascinating and highly readable book forces us to acknowledge the ways in which language is used to discriminate.
The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image
Leonard Shlain - 1998
Making remarkable connections across brain function, myth, and anthropology, Dr. Shlain shows why pre-literate cultures were principally informed by holistic, right-brain modes that venerated the Goddess, images, and feminine values. Writing drove cultures toward linear left-brain thinking and this shift upset the balance between men and women, initiating the decline of the feminine and ushering in patriarchal rule. Examining the cultures of the Israelites, Greeks, Christians, and Muslims, Shlain reinterprets ancient myths and parables in light of his theory. Provocative and inspiring, this book is a paradigm-shattering work that will transform your view of history and the mind.
Everything Scrabble
John D. Williams Jr. - 1995
A guide for improving Scrabble skills discusses how to maximize scores with bonus squares, make more seven-letter plays, and increase scoring average using two-letter words, and includes a step-by-step guide to board strategy.
Japanese Demystified
Eriko Sato - 2008
This title takes the mystery and menace out of learning Japanese by walking readers step-by-step through the fundamentals of the language.
Alpha Beta: How 26 Letters Shaped the Western World
John Man - 2000
The story of how that code came into being is a fascinating one, and Man is the ideal writer to tell it." Times Educational Supplement "A richly absorbing exploration, from B.C. to PCs, of the evolution of the most fundamental characters of our cultural history, the alphabet we so much take for granted. John Man writes with a compellingly restless curiosity and immediacy. The ever surprising, exotically detailed narrative in his informative book makes it as undryly enjoyable as a successful archaelogical dig of one of Alan Moorehead s colorful histories of African exploration." David Grambs, author of The Describer s Dictionary and The Endangered English Dictionary "Text that is crisp, taut, and as clear as a bell.... A fascinating story with many a beguiling subplot along the way." New Scientist "Letter perfect the best histories and mysteries of our ABC s!" Jeff McQuain, author of Never Enough Words and Power Language
An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon
Henry George Liddell - 1889
It includes some discussion of word usage, citing examples and characteristic phrases. Generally speaking, only words used by late writers and scientific terms have been omitted fromthe full lexicon. From Homer downwards, to the close of Attic Greek, care has been taken to include all words, as well as those used by Aristotle, Plutarch in his Lives, Polybius, Strabo, Lucian, and the writers of the New Testament.
London by Tube: A History of Underground Station Names
David Revill - 2011
The book takes the reader on a fascinating journey around the Tube network to reveal the history behind the names of all 268 stations. Packed full of lively stories about the colourful characters and remarkable events connected to the places that bear these names, the book delves deep into London’s rich history to recall tales of terrible fires, profligate playboys, ancient relics, devious criminals, squalid slums, lost rivers, grisly executions and unsolved mysteries. This is a book for anyone who has ever taken a trip on the Tube – the perfect gift for visitors, commuters and Londoners alike. It is a Tube guide to the city’s past. So sit back and enjoy the ride and discover something new about London and its historic Underground.