*A TIME, New Yorker, Financial Times and History Today Book of the Year*'Hilarious' Sam Leith'I loved this book' Susie Dent''Witty and affectionate' Lynne TrussPerfect for book …
Nothing inflames the language gripers like a misplaced disinterested, an illogical irregardless, a hideous operationalisation. To purists these are 'howlers' and 'non-words', fit …
When a society becomes more affluent, does it lose other values? Are the skills that education and literacy gave millions wasted on consuming pop culture? Do the media coerce us …
In this provocative and persuasive new book, Nicholas Ostler challenges our assumption that English will continue to dominate as the global lingua franca. Drawing on his …
Wonderful . . . Endlessly interesting and beautifully written DAILY TELEGRAPH Steady-headed and fun SUNDAY TIMES Read this book and, I promise, you ll never listen to animals in …
In this fascinating, provocative account, eminent philosopher John Searle shows how our everyday actions and cultural knowledge are of a metaphysical complexity that is truely …
From 'shotclog', a Yorkshire term for a companion only tolerated because he is paying for the drinks, to Albanian having 29 words to describe different kinds of eyebrows, the …
What can Johnny Cash s lyrics teach us about the little-known Tangut dialect? Is tabernacle really a swear word in Quebecois? Which language has absolutely no verbs? What is …
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022 T. S. ELIOT PRIZESHORTLISTED FOR THE 2023 RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZEA GUARDIAN AND FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 'A wonder of a collection' Caleb Azumah …
In this fascinating survey of everything from how sounds become speech to how names work, David Crystal answers every question you might ever have had about the nuts and bolts of …
