The making of the Oxford English Dictionary was a monumental 50 year task requiring thousands of volunteers. One of the keenest volunteers was a W C Minor who astonished everyone by refusing to come to Oxford to receive his congratulations. In the end, James Murray, the OED's editor, went to Crowthorne in Berkshire to meet him.

A guide to problems of English usage and spelling. It is suitable as a companion for those who work with the written word.

Describes various facets of human language - its biological origin, its uniqueness to humanity, it acquisition by children, its grammatical structure, the production and perception of speech, the pathology of language disorders and the unstoppable evolution of languages and dialects.

Intends to provide you great wisdom in the morning, several conversational bons mots for the afternoon, and many an enlightened smile after dark. This book contains the 13 principles of witchcraft, the structure of military hierarchy, clothing care symbols, a list of the countries where you drive on the left, and a nursery rhyme about sneezing.

Presenting reflections inspired by the elements of the periodic table, this title ranges from young love to political savagery; from the inert gas argon - and 'inert' relatives like the uncle who stayed in bed for twenty-two years - to life-giving carbon.

The author is the sort of person who learned about sex from her father's copy of Fanny Hill , and who once found herself poring over a 1974 Toyota Corolla manual because it was the only thing in her apartment that she had not read at least twice. This title recounts her lifelong obsession with books.