What in the word? : wordplay, word lore, and answers to the peskiest questions about language
(2005)

Nonfiction

Book

Call Numbers:
422/ELSTER,C

Availability

Locations Call Number Status
Adult Nonfiction 422/ELSTER,C Available

Details

PUBLISHED
Orlando, Fla. : Harcourt, Inc., [2005]
©2005
EDITION
First edition
DESCRIPTION

xvi, 286 pages ; 21 cm

ISBN/ISSN
0156031973 (pbk.), 9780156031974
LANGUAGE
English
NOTES

A Harvest original

Once upon a word : word histories, mysteries, hoaxes, and hype : sorting the tall tales from the truth -- A slough of solecisms : wherein the author leads you safely out of a morass of mistakes and misperceptions into the clear, comforting light of correct English -- The grandiloquent gumshoe : words recovered, discovered, and devised -- The elegance of style : distinctions, clarifications, niceties, and other little things that make your language more polished and precise -- A civil tongue : wherein the author launders your pronunciation and presses you to speak with propriety and poise -- Born in the U.S.A. : some quintessentially American words and expressions, from okay to humongous, with some other American stuff thrown in just for fun -- The wonder of words : a fascinating farrago of word lore and wordplay that just didn't fit anywhere else