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Description
The Secret Life of the English Language. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2007; 271pp. Hardback, with jacket; 205mm, very good condition.
Within the rambling house of words and language we all too often expect to find doors with forbidding-sounding signs on them: 'Spelling', 'Grammar', 'Syntax', 'Etymology', 'Phonetics' and the like - signs that discourage rather than invite entry. But behind these heavy doors the house of words and language is a place of delight and curiosity: on closer inspection its shelves are revealed to be groaning not with dry and dusty tomes exhorting correctness of grammar and usage but with more toothsome reading-matter: intriguing tales of unexpected word and phrase origins; light-hearted explorations of the pleasures of wordplay; listings of lexical peculiarities, from 'ghost letters' to words that have no rhymes; and accounts and examples of the myriad types of English, from slang to jargon, and from gobbledegook to text messaging. Buttering Parsnips, Twocking Chavs is a guided tour of the English language, arranged in 'seven ages' (chapters), tracing the 'birth' of words (alphabets, word origins, etc.), their youthful playfulness and occasional misdemeanours (word games, misspellings, etc.) and various other stages of language 'life', culminating in death (last words, lost words, etc.) and reincarnation (words that have changed their meaning).
Pickup from Brooklyn, Wellington.
Postage is not negotiable but items can be combined for savings. Rural or tracked post extra. Payment is expected within two days, unless other items are being bid on; bidder to advise. Items will be posted as soon as remittance is received. Seller is not responsible for losses in the mail but will make all reasonable attempts to trace items with NZ Post. Unsold items will not be offered but will be relisted.
Details
Shipping & pick-up options
Destination & description | Price | |
---|---|---|
NZPost | $4.00 | |
Pick-up available from Wellington City, Wellington | Free |
Payment Options
Cash, NZ Bank Deposit