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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public...

Welcome to the world of Engrish, which finds its greatest expression in Japanese and Chinese signs, products, manuals, T-shirts and restaurant menus. Now a cultural phenomenon that has taken the...

"Introduction to Sanskrit", in two volumes is designed to open the self-teaching guide, presents Sanskrit pronounciation, grammar and vocabulary in simple and systematic steps, allowing students to easily master the...

Coined in the spontaneity of the everyday spoken act, slang exists as a testament to human nature's inventive and subversive instinct. This history of English slang documents our verbal predilections...

Describes the secret of Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Why might Hamlet be even longer in Italian? How does the story of Romeo and Juliet begin . . . in Thai? How do you build a joke in German,...

A startling new thesis that predicts the end of English as a global language In the twenty-first century, can we really take the dominance of English for granted? In their...

The book titled Dictionary of Modern Phrases by the author Graeme Donald. This is a secondhand book. Please contact us for more information about this title.

Here is the complete history of the word still considered one of the most vulgar and offensive in the English language, from its debut in 15th-century England to the present...

Why does writing exist? What does it mean to those who write? Born from the interplay of natural and cultural history, the seemingly magical act of writing has continually expanded...

An indispensable guide to essential principles of English grammar and usage. Stellar English lays out the fundamentals of effective writing, from word choice and punctuation to parts of speech and...

"Across the darkened basement something creaked, and I tightened my grip on the Colt Diamondback. I'm not usually timid, but my palm was sweaty. That worried me; if I had...

For those who prefer a thesaurus in dictionary form, this bestseller (more than 50,000 hardcover copies sold) is the ideal choice.

Part-essay and part-memoir, This Little Art is a manifesto for the practice of literary translation. Taking her experience translating Roland Barthes' lectures at the College de France as her starting...

Are we tired of hearing that fall is a season, sick of being offered fries and told about the latest movie? Yeah. Have we noticed the sly interpolation of Americanisms...

GRAB A BUMPER, FORGET YOUR FANTEEGS, AND ROAM AT A FOOT-PACE THROUGH THE TWISTY ALLEYWAYS OF THE VICTORIAN VERNACULAR!What larks! Dive into the world of literature's ultimate wordsmith, Charles Dickens,...

The debut murder mystery from Dictionary Corner's resident lexicographer, Susie Dent. **AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOW** Find the truth between the lines. When an anonymous letter is delivered to the Clarendon...

'A sweeping, absorbing history, deeply researched, of that extraordinary and enduring phenomenon: the library' - Richard Ovenden, author of Burning the Books: A History of Knowledge under Attack Famed across...

From Loki to Thor, Ragnarok to Beowulf A gripping and truly mesmerising delve into the Norse legends From bestselling books to blockbusting Hollywood movies, the myths of the Scandinavian gods...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE DEREK WALCOTT PRIZE FOR POETRY 'It is the current Poet Laureate who has done the most to bring medieval poetry to contemporary audiences . . . in...

This classic book is a straightforward introduction to linguistics which attempts to answer two fundamental questions: 'What is language?' and 'How does language work?' It outlines the scope of linguistics,...

This comprehensive guide to literature in English is a source to the vast heritage of literature in the English language throughout the world. It ranges from Britain and Ireland to...

The letters of the alphabet have been the source of some speculation since their invention almost 4000 years ago. Through research this text examines the many ways in which the...

Born as a Germanic tongue with the arrival in Britain of the Anglo-Saxons in the early medieval period, heavily influenced by Norman French from the 11th century, and finally emerging...

We spend much of our days talking. Yet we know little about the conversational engine that drives our everyday lives. We are pushed and pulled around by language far more...

'Delightful' Steven Pinker 'A joy to read' David Crystal Swamp or bog? Guilt or shame? Poisonous or venomous? We pick from a wealth of words to express ourselves each day,...

Half of all 7,000-plus human languages may disappear over the next century and - because many have never been recorded - when they're gone, it will be forever. Ross Perlin,...

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER! 'ONE OF THE FINEST MYSTERIES I HAVE EVER READ' Rob Rinder, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Trial 'A TANTALISING MYSTERY FOR WORD SLEUTHS AND...

Ideal fathers, cruel fathers, imagined fathers, puffed-up with pride fathers, noble fathers, and humanly flawed fathers, loving fathers, exasperated fathers. Literature is full of these but nobody, until Louise Guiness,...

The mother tongue of the Roman Empire and the lingua franca of the West for centuries after Rome's fall, Latin survives today primarily in classrooms and texts. Yet this "dead...

In an absorbing text, Andrew Robinson explains the interconnection between sound, symbol and script. He discusses each of the major writing systems in turn, from cuneiform and Egyptian and Mayan...

You won't find 'terraglossia' on Google, or in a dictionary. It's a word coined by acclaimed academic and award-winning author Dr Debra Dank in response to the first Europeans' description...

Keith Kahn-Harris is a man obsessed with something seemingly trivial - the warning message found inside Kinder Surprise eggs: WARNING, read and keep: Toy not suitable for children under 3...

'Plus Ca Change', like any good story, tells of spectacular failures and unexpected success. This is the story of the French language - second only to English for the number...

Jane Bell Kiester, author of the popular Caught'ya! Grammar with a Giggle series, has adapted her effective and fun approach to meet the specific learning needs of middle-school students. This...

A lively journey through the story of language, from an infant's first word to the languages of the internet Language never leaves you alone. It's there in your head, helping...

This book is about language designed to mean what it does not seem to mean. Ciphers and codes conceal messages and protect secrets. Symbol and magic hide meanings to imperil...

Constantly confused by the difference between adjectives and adverbs? Still can't figure out how to use a semi-colon? Or simply want to refresh the English language knowledge you learnt from...

Looking for an easy-to-use guide to English grammar? This handy introduction covers all the basics of the subject, using a simple and straightforward style. Students will find the book's step-by-step...

'Ingenious... a glorious portrait of the great 15th-century prince of learning' Daily Telegraph 'A deeply fascinating, sui generis book by a brilliant scholar-writer, which uses the life story of a...

Words matter. They wound, they inflate, they define, they demean. They have nuance and power. "Effortless," "Sassy," "Ambitious," "Aggressive": What subtle digs and sneaky implications are conveyed when women are...

The English language is crammed with colourful phrases and sayings that we use without thinking every day. It's only when we're asked who smart Alec or Holy Moly were, where...

In this fascinating survey of everything from how sounds become speech to how names work, David Crystal answers every question you might ever have had about the nuts and bolts...

Hundreds of word lists, arranged thematically, to help with solving cryptic and quick crossword clues. The lists are sorted alphabetically and by length, and provide an invaluable reference for all...

How did a single genre of text have the power to standardise the English language across time and region, rival the Bible in notions of authority, and challenge our understanding...

When we look up a word in a dictionary, we want to know not just its meaning but also its function and the circumstances under which it should be used...