It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations' -- Winston Churchill Quotations can offer us a glimpse into the past in a few brief words, giving us a feeling for the people and events that have shaped our wor

Collins Easy Learning Grammar is an accessible guide to English grammar and punctuation. With clear, concise explanations on everything from adverbs to word order, and from apostrophes to semicolons, this book is indis

'Words are not only tools; they are also weapons.' Peter Bowler's guides, as his thousands of fans worldwide already know, are witty, charming, and clever volumes that introduce weird and wonderful words. Now the thre

In these pages you will discover words you never knew existed, and rediscover many that you had forgotten or had given up all hope of ever seeing again. If the amoindering of our language by fifish chuffs leads you to

A small island in the North Atlantic, colonized by Rome, then pillaged for hundreds of years by marauding neighbours, becomes the dominant world power in the nineteenth century. As its power spreads, its language inevitably follows. Then,

Immortal Last Words is a fascinating, diverse collection of history's most uplifting, entertaining and thought-provoking dying remarks and final farewells. The 370 entries in this book have been drawn from some of history's g

'More than 300 million people in the world speak English and the rest, it sometimes seems, try to...' Only Bill Bryson could make a book about the English language so entertaining. With his boundless enthusiasm and r

This practical introduction to word history investigates every aspect of where words come from and how they change. Philip Durkin, chief etymologist of the Oxford English Dictionary, shows how different types of evide

Compiled by Fred McDonald, this new book traces the origins and explains the meanings of approximately 15,000 words. Words with similar ancestry or semantic development are cross-referenced or subsumed into one entry, making comparisons easi

'The fruit of his labours', Martin Manser's SCAPEGOATS, SHAMBLES AND SHIBBOLETHS is a delightful book for all who adore the English language. 'In the twinkling of an eye' we learn that many of our most familiar phrases are taken st

What is the difference between mean and median, blatant and flagrant, flout and flaunt? Is it whodunnit or whodunit? Do you know? Are you sure? With "Troublesome Words", journalist and bestselling travel-writer Bill

This is a book of word histories, highlighting the deintensification of the disgusting, the generalisation of the ribald, the mutation of the offensive, and occasionally sensationalising of the innocent. What sensiti

Many bright minds have come up with expressions we now take for granted as part of the English language, and which we use freely in vernacular speech. But the originators of many of our most useful second-hand remark

Word Origins is the only guide to the science and process of etymology for the layperson. This funny, charming, and conversational book not only tells the known origins of hundreds of words, but also shows how their

01 In 1893, Ambrose Bierce declared 'I am for preserving the ancient, primitive distinction between right and wrong.' In Write it Right, originally published in 1909, Bierce turned this considerable zeal on the English