More than 100 vocabulary-building quizzes make up the core of the book, with shorter sections on: * The fascinating origins of words * Quotes and misquotes * Slang, dialects and secret languages * Unforgettable Adverts, Famous Lines from Novels and Movies * Newspeak, Basic English, spelling reform * Malapropisms, politicians' blunders and 'mispeakings' * Mnemonics and other memory joggers * Palindromes and anagrams * Semaphore. Morse, tic-tac, hand gestures and other ways of speaking without words Entry after entry explores the byways, oddities and curiosities of the English language.
Whether applying for a job, writing a letter of complaint or simply talking with colleagues or friends, the people who get listened to are those with a confident command of language. Choose the Right Word is a fun guide to using English effectively and to avoiding common mistakes. It is both a valuable work of reference and an enjoyable read. While plotting a path through a minefield of rules and conventions, the book acknowledges that English is an ever-changing language and points out those rules that can at times be broken. 70 light-hearted quizzes show you how to use words that will make your point powerfully, and usage tips set you right on contextual issues. Curio Corners tell the fascinating stories behind dozens of everyday words and phrases. What's the difference between affect and effect; abjure and adjure? Does AD for Anno Domino come before or after the year - and the century? Should you write all right or alright; adviser or advisor? How did the word alcohol come into our language? Just how sure are you about your apostrophes?
More than 100 vocabulary-building quizzes make up the core of the book, with shorter sections on: * The fascinating origins of words * Quotes and misquotes * Slang, dialects and secret languages * Unforgettable Adverts, Famous Lines from Novels and Movies * Newspeak, Basic English, spelling reform * Malapropisms, politicians' blunders and 'mispeakings' * Mnemonics and other memory joggers * Palindromes and anagrams * Semaphore. Morse, tic-tac, hand gestures and other ways of speaking without words Entry after entry explores the byways, oddities and curiosities of the English language.
Whether applying for a job, writing a letter of complaint or simply talking with colleagues or friends, the people who get listened to are those with a confident command of language. Choose the Right Word is a fun guide to using English effectively and to avoiding common mistakes. It is both a valuable work of reference and an enjoyable read. While plotting a path through a minefield of rules and conventions, the book acknowledges that English is an ever-changing language and points out those rules that can at times be broken. 70 light-hearted quizzes show you how to use words that will make your point powerfully, and usage tips set you right on contextual issues. Curio Corners tell the fascinating stories behind dozens of everyday words and phrases. What's the difference between affect and effect; abjure and adjure? Does AD for Anno Domino come before or after the year - and the century? Should you write all right or alright; adviser or advisor? How did the word alcohol come into our language? Just how sure are you about your apostrophes?
A history of mentalities, emotions, and attitudes rather than of policies and ideas, it analyses responses to the scaffold at all social levels: among the crowds which gathered to watch executions; among 'polite' commentators from Boswell and Byron on to Fry, Thackeray, and Dickens; and among the judges, home secretary, and monarch who decided who should hang and who should be reprieved. Drawing on letters, diaries, ballads, broadsides, and images, as well as on poignant appeals for mercy which historians until now have barely explored, the book surveys changing attitudes to death and suffering, 'sensibility' and 'sympathy', and demonstrates that the long retreat from public hanging owed less to the growth of a humane sensibility than to the development of new methods of punishment and law enforcement, and to polite classes' deepening squeamishness and fear of the scaffold crowd.
Drawing upon the satirical prints of the eighteenth century, the author explores what made Londoners laugh and offers insight into the origins of modern attitudes toward sex, celebrity, and ridicule.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.