1300 187 187
In this wide-ranging collection of essays, Richard Lederer offers readers more of the irrepressible wordplay and linguistic high jinks his fans can't get enough of, along with observations on a life in letters. From an inner-city classroom to a wordy weekend retreat, from centuries-old etymological legacies to the latest in slang, dialects, and fadspeak, these essays transport, inform, and entertain as only Lederer can. The book includes more than 30 chapters, such as A Declaration of Linguistic Independence, Our Uppity English Language, Etymological Snapshots, and Jest for the Pun of It.
"Richard Lederer ought to be declared a national treasure." --"Richmond Times-Dispatch"
| Acknowledgments | p. ii |
| Introduction: Confessions of a Verbivore | p. vii |
| A Celebration of English | |
| Our Abounding English Language | p. 2 |
| Doing a Number on English | p. 4 |
| A Guide to Britspeak, A to Zed | p. 8 |
| This American Language | |
| A Declaration of Language Independence | p. 14 |
| Talking Turkey | p. 17 |
| Ail-American Dialects | p. 20 |
| Slang As It Is Slung | p. 25 |
| A Circus of Words | p. 28 |
| Words from Our Presidents | p. 30 |
| Stamp Out Fadspeak! | p. 33 |
| Like, What's Happening to Our Language? | p. 36 |
| The Glamour of Grammar | |
| Conan the Grammarian | p. 40 |
| Laying Down the Law-Without Lying Down on the Job | p. 47 |
| Sex and the Singular Pronoun | p. 49 |
| An Open Letter to Ann Landers | p. 51 |
| Spellbound | |
| Under a Spell | p. 56 |
| I Before E, Except? | p. 62 |
| Fairly Familiar Phrases | p. 65 |
| Getting the Word Out | |
| Writing Is… | p. 68 |
| How I Write | p. 69 |
| Plane Talk | p. 72 |
| Radio Days | p. 75 |
| English with a Russian Dressing | p. 82 |
| The Collide-O-Scope of Language | |
| How Wise Is Proverbial Wisdom? | p. 88 |
| Words That Never Stray | p. 92 |
| Heads Without Tails | p. 96 |
| Our Uppity English Language | p. 98 |
| On Palindromes | p. 100 |
| The Long and the Short of English | p. 103 |
| The Romance of Words | |
| Toothsome Etymologies | p. 108 |
| Haunted Words | p. 112 |
| My Kids the Poker Players | p. 117 |
| On Paradox | p. 121 |
| A Primer of Political Words | p. 123 |
| The True Meanings of Christmas | p. 127 |
| Literature Lives! | p. 131 |
| It's a Punderful Life | |
| Jest for the Pun of It | p. 136 |
| Pun Your Way to Success | p. 140 |
| Nothing Works for Me | p. 144 |
| A Bilingual Pun is Twice the Fun | p. 147 |
| My Favorite Monsters | p. 151 |
| Answers to Quizzes and Games | p. 154 |
| Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved. |
ISBN: 9781936863136
ISBN-10: 1936863138
Audience:
General
Format:
Paperback
Language:
English
Number Of Pages: 192
Published: 1st July 2012
Dimensions (cm): 20.0 x 14.0
x 1.5
Weight (kg): 0.181
9am - 4pm AEST, Monday - Friday
