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The Dictionary of Difficult and Unusual Words

Author : Skyhorse Publishing

Publisher : Skyhorse

Page : 528 pages

File Size : 41,36 MB

Release : 2021-08-03

Category : Reference

ISBN : 9781510765719

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Book Description

Broken down by category, this comprehensive reference is the go-to guide for readers and writers who want to expand their knowledge of language. This unique reference book strives to define words and phrases that the average person often encounters but which may not be immediately familiar. Batten, kiosk, proctor, coup de grace, alliteration, parsec, corona, renal, joystick, decant, citadel. Broken down into over fifty categories—from cultural essentials like art, history, and sports to modern obsessions like text messaging and hip hop slang—this book is a word lover's dream and a useful handbook for any student. It covers theatre. It even has a section of foreign words commonly used in English. Expand your vocabulary. Improve your writing. Broaden your horizons!



The Dictionary of Difficult Words

Author : Jane Solomon

Publisher : Frances Lincoln Children's Books

Page : 115 pages

File Size : 36,46 MB

Release : 2019-05-02

Category : Juvenile Nonfiction

ISBN : 1786038102

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Book Description

What is a moonbow? What does it mean when someone absquatulates? Over 400 words to amaze, confuse and inspiring budding wordsmiths (and adults!).



The Oxford Dictionary of Difficult Words

Author : Archie Hobson

Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA

Page : 474 pages

File Size : 17,92 MB

Release : 2004

Category : Language Arts & Disciplines

ISBN : 0195173287

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Book Description

"Features more than 10,000 entries that focus exclusively on words that, while outside most people's working vocabulary, are often encountered in literature, in technical writings such as computing or medical terminology, and in such diverse subject areas as law, philosophy, and art. Special attention is given to easily confused or closely related words. Usage notes are provided to ensure that readers know how to integrate these words into their vocabularies for more precision and power in speech and writing."--Back cover.



The Indispensable Dictionary of Unusual Words

Author : Josefa Heifetz Byrne

Publisher : Skyhorse

Page : 272 pages

File Size : 18,31 MB

Release : 2012-07-01

Category : Reference

ISBN : 9781616086503

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Book Description

From aasvogel (the South African vulture) to knurry (full of knots), from melangeur (a machine for making chocolate syrup) to zumbooruk (a small cannon fired from the back of a camel), the words in this book are guaranteed to expand your vocabulary and confound your friends. They may be obscure and even preposterous, but every entry in this eye-opening book has been accepted as a formal or legitimate English word by at least one major dictionary. This dictionary does not claim or attempt to be complete. It is based completely on the editor’s sense of wonder and absurdity. It is educational, yes, but also more fun than any dictionary has a right to be!



The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Author : John Koenig

Publisher : Simon and Schuster

Page : 288 pages

File Size : 23,66 MB

Release : 2021-11-16

Category : Reference

ISBN : 1501153668

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Book Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “It’s undeniably thrilling to find words for our strangest feelings…Koenig casts light into lonely corners of human experience…An enchanting book. “ —The Washington Post A truly original book in every sense of the word, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows poetically defines emotions that we all feel but don’t have the words to express—until now. Have you ever wondered about the lives of each person you pass on the street, realizing that everyone is the main character in their own story, each living a life as vivid and complex as your own? That feeling has a name: “sonder.” Or maybe you’ve watched a thunderstorm roll in and felt a primal hunger for disaster, hoping it would shake up your life. That’s called “lachesism.” Or you were looking through old photos and felt a pang of nostalgia for a time you’ve never actually experienced. That’s “anemoia.” If you’ve never heard of these terms before, that’s because they didn’t exist until John Koenig set out to fill the gaps in our language of emotion. The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows “creates beautiful new words that we need but do not yet have,” says John Green, bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars. By turns poignant, relatable, and mind-bending, the definitions include whimsical etymologies drawn from languages around the world, interspersed with otherworldly collages and lyrical essays that explore forgotten corners of the human condition—from “astrophe,” the longing to explore beyond the planet Earth, to “zenosyne,” the sense that time keeps getting faster. The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is for anyone who enjoys a shift in perspective, pondering the ineffable feelings that make up our lives. With a gorgeous package and beautiful illustrations throughout, this is the perfect gift for creatives, word nerds, and human beings everywhere.



The Word I'm Thinking Of

Author : Michael Gates

Publisher :

Page : 172 pages

File Size : 50,53 MB

Release : 2013-05-05

Category :

ISBN : 9780615738185

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Book Description

Absquatulate. Flumadiddle. Gongoozler. Squintifego. If you love words, you know the strange byways of memory or reverie that stumbling across a certain word or phrase will take you down, especially if it's one you're discovering and finding the meaning of for the first time. Chances are, you have never encountered words as unusual as those collected in this 170-page book. You'll find definitions and parts of speech for each entry. And for each word, the author has also included a quotation to show how the word can be used in context. His hope is that this book will spark interest in these ostrobogulous words and that you will use them in your daily conversations--perhaps as a humorous social-science experiment to see what kinds of reactions you receive. Amaze your friends with your selcouth vocabulary and indulge your inner logophile!



The Dictionary of Lost Words

Author : Pip Williams

Publisher : Ballantine Books

Page : 417 pages

File Size : 28,31 MB

Release : 2021-04-06

Category : Fiction

ISBN : 1984820737

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Book Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK • “Delightful . . . [a] captivating and slyly subversive fictional paean to the real women whose work on the Oxford English Dictionary went largely unheralded.”—The New York Times Book Review “A marvelous fiction about the power of language to elevate or repress.”—Geraldine Brooks, New York Times bestselling author of People of the Book Esme is born into a world of words. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, she spends her childhood in the Scriptorium, an Oxford garden shed in which her father and a team of dedicated lexicographers are collecting words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Young Esme’s place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day a slip of paper containing the word bondmaid flutters beneath the table. She rescues the slip and, learning that the word means “slave girl,” begins to collect other words that have been discarded or neglected by the dictionary men. As she grows up, Esme realizes that words and meanings relating to women’s and common folks’ experiences often go unrecorded. And so she begins in earnest to search out words for her own dictionary: the Dictionary of Lost Words. To do so she must leave the sheltered world of the university and venture out to meet the people whose words will fill those pages. Set during the height of the women’s suffrage movement and with the Great War looming, The Dictionary of Lost Words reveals a lost narrative, hidden between the lines of a history written by men. Inspired by actual events, author Pip Williams has delved into the archives of the Oxford English Dictionary to tell this highly original story. The Dictionary of Lost Words is a delightful, lyrical, and deeply thought-provoking celebration of words and the power of language to shape the world. WINNER OF THE AUSTRALIAN BOOK INDUSTRY AWARD



Dictionary of Untranslatables

Author : Barbara Cassin

Publisher : Princeton University Press

Page : 1339 pages

File Size : 12,28 MB

Release : 2014-02-09

Category : Language Arts & Disciplines

ISBN : 1400849918

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Book Description

Characters in some languages, particularly Hebrew and Arabic, may not display properly due to device limitations. Transliterations of terms appear before the representations in foreign characters. This is an encyclopedic dictionary of close to 400 important philosophical, literary, and political terms and concepts that defy easy—or any—translation from one language and culture to another. Drawn from more than a dozen languages, terms such as Dasein (German), pravda (Russian), saudade (Portuguese), and stato (Italian) are thoroughly examined in all their cross-linguistic and cross-cultural complexities. Spanning the classical, medieval, early modern, modern, and contemporary periods, these are terms that influence thinking across the humanities. The entries, written by more than 150 distinguished scholars, describe the origins and meanings of each term, the history and context of its usage, its translations into other languages, and its use in notable texts. The dictionary also includes essays on the special characteristics of particular languages--English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. Originally published in French, this one-of-a-kind reference work is now available in English for the first time, with new contributions from Judith Butler, Daniel Heller-Roazen, Ben Kafka, Kevin McLaughlin, Kenneth Reinhard, Stella Sandford, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Jane Tylus, Anthony Vidler, Susan Wolfson, Robert J. C. Young, and many more.The result is an invaluable reference for students, scholars, and general readers interested in the multilingual lives of some of our most influential words and ideas. Covers close to 400 important philosophical, literary, and political terms that defy easy translation between languages and cultures Includes terms from more than a dozen languages Entries written by more than 150 distinguished thinkers Available in English for the first time, with new contributions by Judith Butler, Daniel Heller-Roazen, Ben Kafka, Kevin McLaughlin, Kenneth Reinhard, Stella Sandford, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Jane Tylus, Anthony Vidler, Susan Wolfson, Robert J. C. Young, and many more Contains extensive cross-references and bibliographies An invaluable resource for students and scholars across the humanities



Vocabulary 4000

Author : Jeff Kolby

Publisher : Nova Press

Page : 160 pages

File Size : 43,9 MB

Release : 2021-01-15

Category : Juvenile Nonfiction

ISBN : 1889057150

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Book Description

Other vocabulary books list difficult, esoteric words that readers quickly forget or feel self-conscious about using. Here there is a bounty of choice words, between the common and the esoteric, that will flow forth, once learned. Brief Description: English offers perhaps the richest vocabulary of all languages, in part because its words are culled from so many languages. It is a shame that we do not tap this rich source more often in our daily conversation to express ourselves more clearly and precisely. Many a vocabulary book lists esoteric words we quickly forget or feel self-conscious using. However, there is a bounty of choice words between the common and the esoteric that often seem be just on the tip of our tongue. Vocabulary 4000 brings these words to the fore.All the words you need for success in business, school, and life!Features: * Word Analysis section* Idiom and Usage section* 200 Prefixes, Roots, and Suffixes* Concise, practical definitions* Great for the SAT, GRE and other entrance exams.



Dictionary of the Strange, Curious and Lovely

Author : Robin Devoe

Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Page : 150 pages

File Size : 43,21 MB

Release : 2017-03-12

Category :

ISBN : 9781545109274

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Book Description

A dictionary of English's 3500 most interesting and/or beautiful words. Many are obscure words -- this book is not useful for foreigners learning English, but best enjoyed by fluent or native speakers. A book for word-lovers who enjoy learning and appreciating more of the English language. Includes some poetical quotes showing usage and select etymologies.