Winged WordsOxford University Press, 1988 - 292 pagini Fueled by continuous new coinages in science, communications, business, and politics, the English language in the last decade has changed faster than at any time in the fifteen centuries of its history. In Winged Words, Philip Howard, the Literary Editor of The Times of London, examines this incredible flood of new words and phrases, from Golden Parachute to chaology (the mathematical study of chaos), from rehab to GIGO, and from Thatcher girls to Reaganomics. This is the fifth collection of Howard's articles on language. As ever, he is informative, witty, and entertaining, providing much good humor as he illuminates recent changes to British and American English. In the first half of the book he considers words or new meanings that have appeared in the last few years, analyzing their usage and, when possible, explaining their derivation. In the second half, he discusses general matters such as the growth of new metaphors and modern proverbs, Janus words (words that have two, contradictory meanings; for instance, "cleave" can mean both "split apart" and "cling to"), and the "English vice" of repeating famous quotes. Whether skewering pompous medical jargon or offering insightful comments on slang, Philip Howard is always amusing and knowledgeable. Winged Words will delight wordsmiths and logophiles--and anyone else who loves language. |
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academic acronym adjective adverb American auto-antonyms band-wagon become better Bible bird British English Brownie called century classics cliché coined collision common cowboy describe Dictionary editor English language eponymous etymology example fashionable free lunch French fudge grammar gravy train Greek hope hopefully hype idiolect idiom Indian English ivory tower jargon journalists journos lady Latin linguistic living look Lord marbles mean metaphor modern Naafi naff never nice noun origin Oxford Oxford English Dictionary paradox Pathetic Fallacy person Phil Mahre phrase political politicians popular prodigal pronounced pronunciation quotation quotes Received Pronunciation recent refer reflexive reflexive pronouns rubbish sengreen sense sentence silly slang social sounds spelling Teddy television term Thatcher thing tion Tommy Handley translation twerp unicorn United Kingdom usage verb vocabulary vogue wally weasel word White Knight woman write wrong wrote
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Medical Writing: A Prescription for Clarity Neville W. Goodman,Martin B. Edwards Previzualizare limitată - 2006 |