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Graeme Garden

Tim Brooke-Taylor

Barry Cryer

Jon Naismith

Do words fail you? Never again, once you've become the proud owner of The Complete Uxbridge English Dictionary. 
 
Every word has a meaning, but over the years those meanings change. Dip into these helpfully illustrated pages and you'll find many of the words you use every day without ever realising that their up-to-date definition is something entirely different. 
 
Words like 'bunny' (rather like a bun), or 'cherish' (rather like a chair), 'Cardiology' (the study of knitwear) or 'buggery' (the study of insects), 'Venezuala' (a gondola with a harpoon) or 'Norway' (a Geordie exclamation of surprise), 'ivy' (the Roman for "four") or 'faculty' (cockney for "there's no more PG Tips"). 
 
Thanks to The Complete Uxbridge English Dictionary you can now use familiar, everyday words in total confidence, fully appraised of their latest meanings. Happy wording!

The Complete Uxbridge English Dictionary

I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue

Adam Jacot de Boinod

Why would Germans accuse you of being like the donkey getting cross with a rabbit? Who would a Spaniard tell to go and fry asparagus? And when might the French claim they are without a radish? 
 
Furthering your knowledge of the world&rsquo;s unusual idioms, Toujours Tingo will also explain how ordering &lsquo;lamb&rsquo; in Ethiopia may see a cow delivered to your table, and how politicians in Sweden may be encouraged occasionally to g&ouml;ra en hel Pudel (&lsquo;do a full poodle&rsquo;) with some humble apologising. Covering such wide-ranging linguistic necessities as arguing, raising children, working and dining out, and filling all those gaps that English leaves thoughtlessly unplugged, this book&rsquo;s charm would &ndash; for Russians at least &ndash; be e&#382;iku ponjatno (obvious even to a hedgehog).

Toujours Tingo

Extraordinary Words to Change the Way We See the World

Charles Timoney

THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT FRANCE: You burnt Joan of Arc! ? Smuggling live chickens into rugby matches is patriotic ? How many times to kiss on the cheek ? Where not to cross the road ? French guns don't go 'bang' ? What do you call a party? ? bon appetit is vulgar ? A six-pack is a bar of chocolate ? The dangers of being called Peter or Penny ? Your smallest finger is your 'ear' finger ? The importance of Wednesdays ? How to tip ? and when to celebrate Christmas? 
 
Forget the French you learnt at school. Based on twenty years of hard-won knowledge, Pardon My French takes you through all the words you need to survive, shows how and why they work, and steers you past all the pitfalls and potential embarrassments of speaking French in France. 
 
From sugar-cube etiquette to why the Marseillaise is all about slaughtering Austrians and Prussians as bloodily as possible, Charles Timoney lays bare the Gallic mindset alongside their bizarre language. Covering all areas of everyday life from eating and drinking to travel, work and, crucially, swearing and sounding like a teenager, this is not just the most entertaining, but also the most useful book on France and the French you'll ever read.

Pardon My French

Unleash Your Inner Gaul

Peter Trudgill

This is a classic book on a fascinating subject. Peter Trudgill examines the close link between language and society and the many factors that influence the way we speak. These range from gender, environment, age, race, class, region and politics. Trudgill's book surveys languages and societies from all over the world drawing on examples from Afrikaans to Yiddish. He has added a fascinating chapter on the development of a language as a result of a non-native speaker's use of it. Compelling and authoritative, this new edition of a bestselling book is set to redraw the boundaries of the study of sociolinguistics.

Sociolinguistics

An Introduction to Language and Society

Bobette Buster

Today’s world wants to know you and the real story behind why you do what you do. 
Whether you have a product to sell, a company mission to share or an audience to entertain, people are far more likely to engage and connect if you deliver a well-crafted story with an emotional core. 
 
Bobette Buster is a lecturer and story consultant to major studios including Pixar, Disney and Sony Animation. In Do Story she teaches the art of telling powerful and engaging stories. Through profiles of activists, leaders and visionaries, she shares a variety of styles and narrative techniques to demonstrate: 
 <ul><li>The 10 principles of storytelling</li><li>How to source, structure and shape your story</li><li>The power of the 'gleaming detail'</li><li>Why an emotional connection is key</li></ul> 
With practical tips and exercises, you will soon discover how to take your own storytelling from good... to great. So, what’s your story? 
 
'Bobette is a truly fantastic teacher, a mainstay in the USC Peter Stark Program where she has made such a tremendous impact on students. No one understands story better than her.' 
Larry Turman, Director, USC Peter Stark Program and Producer of The Graduate 
 
©2013 Bobette Buster (P)2017 Do Books Audio

Do Story

How to tell your story so the world listens

Alan Connor

‘Alan knows everything, knows everyone, and writes beautifully too.’ 
RICHARD OSMAN 
 
‘The man with the contents of the Oxford English Dictionary stored just above his left eyebrow … and he’s quite funny too.’ 
RORY CELLAN-JONES 
 
'A gorgeous, funny tour of the British Isles as seen from the clouds.’ 
KONNIE HUQ 
 
 
For fans of THE ETYMOLOGICON and VERY BRITISH PROBLEMS, a delightfully damp tour of the British Isles. 
 
 
Mizzle. Dreich. Raining knives and forks. A real mugga-fisty. A spot of plother... 
 
We Brits love talking about the weather. So much so that our islands have hundreds of words and phrases for rain, some self-explanatory and others that really leave us scratching our heads. From a light smirr in Aberdeen to a "it's raining knives and forks!" in the Brecon Beacons, each type of rain tells a story about the people and places it falls on. 
 
In this delightfully damp tour of the British Isles, writer and puddle-splasher Alan Connor digs deep into the meaning and quirky histories of over one hundred words for precipitation. He gets caught in a plash in Northumberland, crashes a fox's wedding in Devon and ponders the phenomenon of Brits-who-picnic-in-the-car, in this charming and witty celebration of our very British obsession.

188 Words for Rain

A delightfully damp tour of the British Isles, led by natural forces (an official BBC Weather book)

Umberto Eco

How much do our perceptions of things depend on our cognitive ability, and how much on our linguistic resources? Where, and how, do these two questions meet? Umberto Eco undertakes a series of idiosyncratic and typically brilliant explorations, starting from the perceived data of common sense, from which flow an abundance of 'stories' or fables, often with animals as protagonists, to expound a clear critique of Kant, Heidegger and Peirce. And as a beast designed specifically to throw spanners in the works of cognitive theory, the duckbilled platypus naturally takes centre stage.

Kant And The Platypus

Laurie Bauer

A unique collection of original essays by 21 of the world's leading linguists. The topics discussed focus on some of the most popular myths about language: The Media Are Ruining English; Children Can't Speak or Write Properly Anymore; America is Ruining the English Language. The tone is lively and entertaining throughout and there are cartoons from Doonesbury andThe Wizard of Id to illustrate some of the points. The book should have a wide readership not only amongst students who want to read leading linguists writing about popular misconceptions but also amongst the large number of people who enjoy reading about language in general.

Language Myths

Kingsley Amis

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The King's English is Kingsley Amis's authoritative and witty guide to the use and abuse of the English language. A scourge of illiteracy and a thorn in the side of pretension, Amis provides indispensable advice about the linguistic blunders and barbarities that lie in wait for us, from danglers, four-letter words to jargon and even Welsh rarebit. If you have ever wondered whether it's acceptable to start a sentence with 'and', to boldly split an infinitive, or to cross your sevens in the French style, Amis has the answer - or a trenchant opinion. By turns reflective, acerbic and provocative, The King's English is for anyone who cares about how the English language is used.

The King's English

Lynne Truss

The BBC Radio 4 series that inspired the bestselling book Eats, Shoots & Leaves 
 
'... It's fair enough that punctuation fans should have the opportunity to hear more words of wisdom from their heroine' - Sunday Times 
 
'Truss presents the arguments for and against the different uses of punctuation in such a humorous way...' - Observer 
 
'It all adds up to lots of memorable, and improving, good fun' - Times 
 
The runaway success of Eats, Shoots & Leaves brought millions of grammar geeks out of the closet and made it cool to care about punctuation. This is the radio series that started it all: five programmes in which Lynne Truss explores changing fashions in punctuation. 
 
She accompanies the founder of the Apostrophe Protection Society through Berwick Street Market on a hunt for the 'greengrocer's apostrophe', enters the classroom to hear how children learn punctuation, and finds out whether anyone punctuates text messages. Talking to writers and experts like Fay Weldon and David Crystal, she discovers the origins of the comma in Greek drama and Gregorian chant, considers the case for 'semi-colonic irrigation' and asks how a writer's choice of punctuation expresses his tone of voice.Looking into the future, she wonders if 'emoticons' will put colons, commas and apostrophes on the endangered species list. 
 
Impassioned, informative and always amusing, this is an essential listen for anyone who loves language. 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 03-31 December 2002

Cutting A Dash

The BBC Radio series that inspired Eats, Shoots & Leaves

Robert Anwood

The English language can be very confusing. But it&rsquo;s not rocket surgery. Damp Squids and Card Sharks is a fascinating suppository of false facts and common errors, a minefield of information. Have we wetted your appetite? Peaked your interest? Are you waiting with baited breath? Or could you care less? Pull your socks together! For all intensive purposes, this is the book for you. This cute, funny book features gorgeous illustrations alongside the 50 amusing malapropisms, mixed metaphors and mondegreens. In one foul swoop you&#39;ll learn why so many people get muddled by the same phrases!

Damp Squids and Card Sharks

A Compendium of Commonly Confused Phrases and Linguistic Muddles

Henrik Ibsen

With her assertion that she is 'first and foremost a human being', rather than a wife, mother or fragile doll, Nora Helmer sent shockwaves throughout Europe when she appeared in Ibsen's greatest and most famous play, A Doll's House. Ibsen's follow-up Ghosts was no less radical, with its unrelenting investigation into religious hypocrisy, family secrets and sexual double-dealing. These two masterpieces are accompanied here by The Pillars of the Community and An Enemy of the People, both exploring the tensions and dark compromises at the heart of society.

A Doll's House and Other Plays

Alex Games

Balderdash &amp; Piffle: One Sandwich Short of a Dog's Dinner is a thrilling ride through the provocative, bewildering and often downright bizarre world of language and etymology. From the brash jargon of celebrity magazines to the delicacies and feints of the euphemism, author and word-sleuth Alex Games has uncovered the remarkable stories that lie behind some of our best-loved words and expressions. 
 
By grouping words into distinct themes - such as put downs and insults, the vocab of fashionistas and the lingo of dodgy dealings - Balderdash &amp; Piffle looks at the English language in a fresh and revealing light. 
 
Who was the original Jack the Lad? What is the tragic story behind the expression Sweet F.A.? Balderdash &amp; Piffle will show you where thugs come from, why 'barmy' once had more to do with your beer than your brain, and how a little bit of 'hanky-panky' could literally work magic. From the 'Cloud-cuckoo-land' of Aristophanes to the town of Balaclava, this is a funny but rigorously researched account of English words and their origins. 
 
Drawing together sources as diverse as William Shakespeare, David Cameron and the Burnham-on-Sea Gazette, Alex Games recalls the trends, innovations and scandals that have produced some of our most familiar but least explored words and phrases. Accompanying a brand new series of the hit BBC television programme Balderdash &amp; Piffle - and containing all the results of the 'Wordhunt' from the first series -this entertaining book is a treasure trove for English-language lovers everywhere.

Balderdash & Piffle: One Sandwich Short of a Dog's Dinner

Philip Dodd

What is the connection between a rather unflattering item of clothing and the French trapeze artist Jules Léotard? Which filling did the Earl of Sandwich opt for when he made his great culinary invention? And was there really a Sir Oswald Binge whose week-long feasts were notorious for their excess? 
The Reverend Guppy's Aquarium answers these and many other questions drawn from the remoter corners of the English language, exploring the lives of an extraordinarily diverse range of people who happen to have one thing in common: by chance or deliberately, they have left their names deeply embedded in the language and consciousness of future generations. Each figure has something to tell us about a moment in history, or a discovery or invention, whether it's László Biró and his pioneering writing implement, or Étienne de Silhouette who, having fallen from grace at the French court, spent much of the later part of his life mournfully cutting out paper shapes. Not to mention the Reverend Robert Lechmere Guppy, fish-discoverer extraordinaire. 
Each life in The Reverend Guppy's Aquarium is quirky and often bizarre. Few of them would merit a footnote, let alone an entry, in the history books. But they all reveal that the prospect of immortality is only a fluke away. In an age of instant 15-minute celebrity, that's a reassuring thought.

The Reverend Guppy's Aquarium

How Jules Leotard, Adolphe Sax, Roy Jacuzzi and co. immortalised their names in the dictionary

Jing Tsu

What does it take to reinvent the world's oldest living language? 
 
China today is one of the world's most powerful nations, yet just a century ago it was a crumbling empire with literacy reserved for the elite few, left behind in the wake of Western technology. In Kingdom of Characters, Jing Tsu shows that China's most daunting challenge was a linguistic one: to make the formidable Chinese language - a 2,200-year-old writing system that was daunting to natives and foreigners alike - accessible to a globalized, digital world. 
 
Kingdom of Characters follows the bold innovators who adapted the Chinese script - and the value-system it represents - to the technological advances that would shape the twentieth century and beyond, from the telegram to the typewriter to the smartphone. From the exiled reformer who risked death to advocate for Mandarin as a national language to the imprisoned computer engineer who devised input codes for Chinese characters on the lid of a teacup, generations of scholars, missionaries, librarians, politicians, inventors, nationalists and revolutionaries alike understood the urgency of their task and its world-shaping consequences. 
 
With larger-than-life characters and a thrilling narrative, Kingdom of Characters offers an astonishingly original perspective on one of the twentieth century's most dramatic transformations.

Kingdom of Characters

A Tale of Language, Obsession, and Genius in Modern China

Albert Jack

Mr Jack has been nimble and he's been quick, searching through the history of nursery rhymes and he's found out all kind of plum tales, just like little Jack Horner. He's unearthed the answers to some very curious questions... 
 
Who were Mary Quite Contrary and Georgie Porgie? How could Hey Diddle Diddle offer an essential astronomy lesson? And if Ring a Ring a Roses isn't about catching the plague, then what is it really about? This ingenious book delves into the hidden meanings of the nursery rhymes and songs we all know so well and discovers all kinds of strange tales ranging from Viking raids to firewalking and from political rebellion to slaves being smuggled to freedom. 
 
Full of vivid illustrations and with each verse reproduced, here are a multitude of surprising stories you won't be able to resist passing on to everyone you know. Your childhood songs and rhymes will never sound the same again.

Pop Goes the Weasel

The Secret Meanings of Nursery Rhymes

Elizabeth Little

What can Johnny Cash&rsquo;s lyrics teach us about the little-known Tangut dialect? Is &lsquo;tabernacle&rsquo; really a swear word in Quebecois? Which language has absolutely no verbs? What is Earth&rsquo;s politest insult? And what is biting the wax tadpole actually a translation of?* 
 
Prepare for a hilarious rollercoaster ride through hundreds of well-known, obscure, difficult, dead and even made-up languages. Elizabeth Little has waded through innumerable verb tables in every available mood and tense, untangled up to eighteen cases of noun, and wrestled with all kinds of complicated adjective, participles and glottal stops to bring you the best and most bizarre quirks of the ways people communicate all around the globe. 
 
From the language that has no different word for &lsquo;blue&rsquo; or &lsquo;green&rsquo;, to why Icelanders need official permission to name their children, from what makes a Korean TV hit to what people might think you&rsquo;re saying if you order eggs in Spain, Biting the Wax Tadpole will ensure you&rsquo;re never lost for words again. 
 
*Coca-Cola, would you believe it?

Biting the Wax Tadpole

Misadventures of an Armchair Linguist

In the century since its birth, the crossword has evolved into the world's most popular intellectual pastime: a unique form of wordplay, the codes and conventions of which are open to anyone masochistic enough to get addicted. In Two Girls, One on Each Knee, Alan Connor celebrates the wit, ingenuity and frustration of setting and solving puzzles. From the beaches of D-Day to the imaginary worlds of three-dimensional crosswords, to the British school teachers and journalists who turned the form into the fiendish sport it is today, encompassing the most challenging clues, particular tricks, the world's greatest setters and famous solvers, PG Wodehouse and the torturers of the Spanish Inquisition, this is an ingenious book for lovers of this very particular form of wordplay.

Two Girls, One on Each Knee

The Puzzling, Playful World of the Crossword

Caz Hildebrand

Philip Cowell

Introducing: 
The dashing dash - 
So-called "quotation marks" 
The colon: and on and on. 
The shouty exclamation! 
The three dots of... 
(Not forgetting the brackets) 
And many more. 
 
Take a witty and typographical journey through the art, pleasures and playfulness of the punctuation marks we use every day.

This Is Me, Full Stop.

The Art, Pleasures, and Playfulness of Punctuation

Julia Cresswell

A fascinating, thematic exploration of clich&eacute;s from as the actress said to the bishop to zero hour, explaining what they are and where they&rsquo;ve come from. Julia Cresswell has taken her best-selling dictionary of clich&eacute;s (&lsquo;Sumptuous&hellip; A mine of information.&rsquo; Guardian) back to the drawing board and has created a book, packed with famous (and infamous) quotations and memorable information, that will change the way you see English.

The Cat's Pyjamas

The Penguin Book of Clichés

John Searle

This short treatise looks at how we construct a social reality from our sense impressions; at how, for example, we construct a &quot;five-pound note&quot; with all that implies in terms of value and social meaning, from the printed piece of paper we see and touch.

The Construction of Social Reality

Ebury Press

The days of wooing your love with embarrassing poetry or rambling love letters are over. Here begins the new dawn in the evolution the language of love: emoji. 
 
With a wealth of emojis on offer to convey your adoration, from kissy faces and hearts-for-eyes, to saucier combinations like the lock and key, there is no end to the ways you can declare your love. And this book will guide you through each stage of your relationship with phrases for every occasion. Step back Shakespeare: wherefore are thou, aubergine? 
 
Sections include: pick-up lines, what not to say on a first date, how to say ‘I love you’, living together, the proposal, breaking up, love songs and romantic films (sure you can translate ‘Ghost’, but how would you do ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’?). A perfect gift for Valentine’s Day, you’ll never just send a boring row of hearts again.

How to Speak Emoji Love

Simon Heffer

In his best-selling Strictly English Simon Heffer explained how to write and speak our language well. In Simply English he offers an entertaining and supremely useful A–Z guide to frequent errors, common misunderstandings and stylistic howlers. What is the difference between amend and emend, between imply and infer, and between uninterested and disinterested? When should one put owing to rather than due to? Why should the temptation to write actually, basically or at this moment in time always be strenuously resisted? How does one use an apostrophe correctly, ensure that one understands what alibi really means, and avoid the perils of the double negative? 
 
With articles on everything from punctuation to tabloid English to adverbs and adjectives, Simply English is the essential companion for anyone who cares about the language and wants to use it correctly.

Simply English

An A-Z of Avoidable Errors

Charlie Croker

Have you ever arrived in a hotel room and been baffled by the information provided? 
Beware of your luggage. 
In your room you will find a minibar which is filled with alcoholics. 
Do not throw urine around. 
 
Have you ever been to a restaurant and wondered what on earth to order? 
Bored Meat Stew 
Lorry Driver Soup 
Kiss Lorraine 
 
Have you ever arrived in an airport and found that the supposedly helpful signs just make you feel more lost? 
You are required to declare all sorts of private things. 
Departure. Bus stop. Car rectal. 
Please buy your ticket consciously. 
 
Charlie Croker has, and in 2006 he gathered together what he thought was the definitive collection of English language howlers for his bestselling book Lost in Translation. But he reckoned without the great British public. Not only was the book a smash hit, it also opened the floodgates to a deluge of emails and letters stuffed full of further mistranslations and mutilated phrases. From a leaflet from the Museum of Rasputin in Russia (which is apparently situated in a house that belonged a pilot fish Zubov) to a song title on a pirated Pink Floyd CD (Come Fartably Numb), the scrambled sentences just kept flooding in. At the same time Charlie has continued his travels and picked up gems of his own. With such a wealth of material, a sequel wasn't just a necessity, it was a public service, and Still Lost in Translation is even more addictive, whimsical and side-splittingly hilarious than the first book.

Still Lost in Translation

More misadventures in English abroad

Keith Houston

Where does the ampersand get its name from? What does the hashtag have to do with commerce in ancient Rome? Keith Houston gives the answers in this delightfully entertaining book. 
 
From the pilcrow ¶ to the ampersand, the entire cast of Shady Characters reflects the changes in written communication through the ages, charting how punctuation has adapted to each new technological innovation. Together, these shady characters form a rich, entertaining and surprising history of the written word and our ongoing attempts to shape it. 
 
'Engaging typographical journeys . . . Houston brings to life a history of ingenuity and imagination' The Times 
 
'Entertaining, informative, a must-read. If ever a book deserved its hardbacked, reverse-embossed, lavishly illustrated, thick white heavy paper incarnation, and a place on an actual bookshelf, it is Shady Characters' Guardian 
 
'Houston brings considerable wit to the 5,000-year-old enigma of how we attempt to communicate our thoughts through visible signs . . . Shady Characters might make you look at books - in print or online - in an entirely new way' Nature 
 
'Refreshing . . . the stories he uncovers along the way are fascinating' Telegraph 
 
'Ventures into the previously untrodden history of punctuation marks . . . scholarly, highly readable' Spectator 
 
Keith Houston is the founder of ShadyCharacters.co.uk, where he writes about the unusual stories behind some well-known - and some rather more outlandish - marks of punctuation.

Shady Characters

Ampersands, Interrobangs and other Typographical Curiosities

Geoff Tibballs

Would you Adam and Eve it? Over a hundred years after it was first heard on the streets of Ye Olde London Towne, Cockney rhyming slang is still going strong, and this book contains the most comprehensive and entertaining guide yet. 
 
Presented in an easy-to-read A to Z format, it explains the meaning of hundreds of terms, from old favourites such as apples and pears (stairs) and plates of meat (feet) to the more obscure band of hope (soap) and cuts and scratches (matches) through to modern classics such as Anthea Turner (earner) and Ashley Cole (own goal), as well as providing fascinating background info and curious Cockney facts throughout. Also included are a series of language tests so that readers can brush up on their newfound knowledge on their way to becoming a true Cockney Geezer. 
 
All in all, The Ultimate Cockney Geezer's Guide to Rhyming Slang is well worth your bread and honey to have a butcher's.

The Ultimate Cockney Geezer's Guide to Rhyming Slang

Michael Quinion

Long-time word-detective and bestselling author of Port Out, Starboard Home, Michael Quinion brings us the answers to nearly two hundred of the most intriguing questions he's been asked about language over the years. Sent to him by enquiring readers from all around the globe, Michael's answers about the meanings and histories behind the quirky phrases, slang and language that we all use are set to delight, amuse and enlighten even the most hardened word-obsessive. 
 
Did you know that 'Blighty' comes from an ancient Arabic word? Or that Liberace cried his way to the bank so many times people think he came up with the phrase? That 'cloud nine' started out as 'cloud seven' in the speakeasies of '30s America? And that the first person to have their thunder stolen was a dismal playwright from Drury Lane? 
 
Michael Quinion's Why is Q Always Followed By U? is full of surprising discoveries, entertaining quotations and memorable information. There are plenty of colourful stories out there, but Michael Quinion will help you discover the truth that lies behind the cock-and-bull stories and make sure you're always linguistically on the ball.

Why is Q Always Followed by U?

Word-Perfect Answers to the Most-Asked Questions About Language

Kick the Bucket and Swing the Cat takes a humorous tour through the fascinating, sometimes tragic, and often surprising history of the English language and its etymology. 
 
Author, humorist and word-sleuth Alex Games uncovers the trends, innovations and scandals that have shaped the meanings of our most popular words and expressions, from Chaucer to Internet jargon and Ancient Greek to American slang. Who was the original Jack the Lad, Gordon Bennett or Bloody Mary? Where do dodgy geezers and hooligans come from? What are skeldering, dithering and sabre-rattling? 
 
This amusing but rigorously researched account of English words and their origins combines the findings of the major BBC TV series and the nationwide Wordhunt, and is an entertaining treasure trove for English-language lovers everywhere.

Kick the Bucket and Swing the Cat

The Complete Balderdash & Piffle Collection of English Words, and Their Curious Origins

Bill Bryson

This highly entertaining BBC Radio 4 series is written and presented by Bill Bryson and based on his bestselling book, 'Mother Tongue'. In it he romps through the history of Britain to reveal how English became such an infuriatingly complex – but ultimately world-beating – language.  But why English? Why don’t we speak Gallic, or any other of the European languages? According to Bryson, it’s down to the remarkable ability for the English language to assimilate other vocabularies, to adapt and – above all – to survive.  From the old English words that are still in everyday use, such as ‘eat’, ‘drink’, ‘man’ and ‘wife’, to the current hybrid language of the 21st century with its many diverse dialects, Bryson, in his unique and ever-affable style, guides us through the development of English into a rich and expressive language.  Bryson explains how English has been shaped through invasion and conquest, as well as the rules that brought order to a disorderly language, the million and one ways to have fun with the English language, and the struggle with phrasal verbs (including the way things often get lost in the translation).  And finally, he contemplates the future of English. Does Estuary English really Rule OK?   '...Worth a listen for anyone who is interested in how we came to have such a rich language' - Sunday Times

Journeys In English

David Corbett

Former private investigator and New York Times notable author David Corbett offers a unique and indispensable toolkit for creating characters that come vividly to life on the page and linger in memory. Corbett provides an inventive, inspiring, and vastly entertaining blueprint to all the elements of characterization-from initial inspiration to realization-with special insights into the power of secrets and contradictions, the embodiment of roles, managing the "tyranny of motive," and mastering crucial techniques required for memorable dialogue and unforgettable scenes. This is a how-to guide for both aspiring and accomplished writers that renders all other books of its kind obsolete.

The Art of Character

Creating Memorable Characters for Fiction, Film, and TV

Peter Rabbit Tales

Explore with Peter Rabbit

Peter Rabbit Animation

Peter Rabbit Slide-and-Seek

Peter Rabbit Lift-the-Flap Tales

Peter Rabbit’s Peekaboo

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Showing results for: ‘peter rabbit’

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