What in the Word? Pa: Wordplay, Word Lore, and Answers to Your Peskiest Questions about Language (Harvest Original) - Softcover

Elster, Charles Harrington

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0156031973 ISBN 13: 9780156031974

Verlag: Harvest, 2005

Inhaltsangabe

Book by Elster Charles Harrington

Über diesen Titel

Críticas

PRAISE FOR THE BIG BOOK OF BEASTLY MISPRONUNCIATIONS

"Ek-STROR-di-ner-ee. The best survey of the spoken field in years."--William Safire, The New York Times Magazine

Reseña del editor

Are you so sure about "assure," "ensure," and "insure" ? Can you determine whether a knob of butter is equivalent to a lump or a pat or a scosh? Can you say which word in the English language has the most definitions, or who put the H in Jesus H. Christ?

If you can't, be assured that Charles Harrington Elster, author of several well-loved works on language, can-and does in his latest book, a delightfully designed compendium of the most common, interesting, and entertaining conundrums in our language. Drawing upon esoteric sources and his own inimitable expertise, Elster uses a lively question-and-answer format to cover a variety of topics-word and phrase origins, slang, style, usage, punctuation, and pronunciation. Every chapter features original brainteasers, challenging puzzles, and a trove of literary trivia.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Harvest
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0156031973
• ISBN 13: 9780156031974
• Einband: Tapa blanda
• Sprache: Englisch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 306