The 3rd edition, revised by Janet Whitcut, has been completely reset and brought up-to-date for modern usage. This classic guide, full of advice on how to avoid woolly expressions, bad grammar and poor vocabulary selection, guides the user through the difficulties of writing clear, direct English.

With the assistance of: Friedrichsen, G. W. S.; Unknown function: Burchfield, R. W.

More words and definitions than any other single-volume English dictionary

The definitive work on the subject, this classic work - now available in its ninth edition, for the first time in paperback - gives a full account of slang and conventional English and will entertain and inform all language-lovers.

This reference contains over 1,000,000 synonyms arranged alphabetically, including clearly labelled slang and other informal words and expressions, as well as rare, archaic, scientific and other specialized terms.

Offering updated material to reflect current style, this 15th edition includes guidance on electronic publications, journals and mathematical copy. A comprehensive gathering of material, the Chicago Manual of Style is an essential reference for publishing professionals.

This history of reading goes from the earliest examples of the clay tablets and cuneiform of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt to today's digital revolution. It argues that it is the demands of the reader, acting alongside the will of the writer, that is the evolutionary motor of literary genres.

A treasury of unusual words

Third edition.

Analyses what words actually mean and how we use them, and reveals what this can tell us about ourselves. This book shows how we use space and motion as metaphors for more abstract ideas, and uncovers the deeper structures of human thought that have been shaped by evolutionary history. It also explores the emotional impact of language.

Containing word histories, this book highlights the de-intensification of the disgusting, the generalization of the ribald, and the mutation of the offensive, revealing the ugly truth behind commonly used words. It helps the reader discover what sensitivities are secretly offended by the use of such words as poppycock, bonfire, and porcelain.

English is full of contradictions and peculiarities and hoodwinks us into believing one thing while meaning something quite different. This hilarious text sorts the homonyms from the heteronyms and introduces the 'antigram'. It highlights a few of life's petty pleonasms and tautologies.

Small and insignificant Bastian Balthazar Bux is nobody's idea of a hero, least of all his own. Through the pages of an old book he discovers a mysterious world of enchantment - but a world that is falling into decay. The great task of making things well again falls on Bastian and so begins a dazzling, magical adventure.

This popular book is an entertaining and straightforward guide to the most commonly confused words in English today, with real examples of good and bad usage to make differences crystal-clear.

The popular and lively guide to the language of evasion, hypocrisy, prudery, and deceit. Organized in A-Z format, with thematic index - and now including short articles on fruitful areas of euphemistic language, such as business and commerce, death, sex, and the human body.

A catch phrase is a well-known, frequently-used phrase or saying that has caught on' or become popular over a long period of time. It is often witty or philosophical and this Dictionary gathers together over 7,000 such phrases. Some reviews of this classic edition: This delightful book will tell you the history of such phrases as back to square one , as the actress said to the bishop , the

'Eunoia', which means 'beautiful thinking', is the shortest word in the English language to contain all five vowels. This book also contains them, but never at the same time. It includes five chapters that use only one vowel.

A detective work into the origins and development of the world's most widely used language. It provide a guide to its flexibility and richness.