Steve Roud was Local Studies Librarian for the London Borough of Croydon and served as Honorary Librarian of the Folklore Society for over fifteen years. He has been researching British folklore for over thirty years and is the joint author of the Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore, plus other books on traditional drama and folk song, and the Penguin Guide to the Superstitions of Britain and Ireland, which won the Katharine Briggs Folklore Award in 2004. His publications include London Lore (2008) and The Lore of the Playground (2010). He also compiles the Folk Song Index and the Broadside Index, two internationally acclaimed computer databases of traditional folk and popular song. He lives in Sussex.

Steve Roud

PublicationStatus

Brand

Format

AgeRange

Series

Imprint

CategoryLabel

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

Roget's Thesaurus ranks as one of the greatest English language reference works, used for generations by anyone looking for help in order to write a letter, prepare a speech, solve a crossword, or write any manner of prose or poem.  Its sales now exceed 32 million copies.  This concise edition contains the essential entries from the original 1852 volume, and has been revised and updated to include all the latest buzzwords and phrases.

Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases

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

Alan Connor

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

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

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

David Crystal

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 language in his usual highly illuminating way. Along the way we find out about eyebrow flashes, whistling languages, how parents teach their children to speak, how politeness travels across languages and how the way we talk show not just how old we are but where we&rsquo;re from and even who we want to be.

How Language Works

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

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

Learning to talk is probably the greatest milestone in a child's development: a deeply moving and often hilarious experience for all parents. 
 
In this charming and informative book, Britain's leading expert on the English language talks you through every stage in your child's language development. Over thirty years after its original publication, this new and updated edition of Listen to your Child shows us that while the world our children are growing up in may have changed, one thing has not: parents still need to listen. 
 
Gathering decades of research from psychologists and linguists, Professor Crystal shows how the more we know about language acquisition - from 'cooking' and 'babbling' to melodic 'scribble talk' and simple words and then to incessant chatter - the more there is to delight in. 
 
From birth to the early school years, Listen to your Child provides a painless introduction to the study of child language acquisition as well as invaluable advice for parents.

Listen to Your Child

A Parent's Guide to Children's Language

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

Dennis Duncan

Most of us give little thought to the back of the book - it's just where you go to look things up. But here, hiding in plain sight, is an unlikely realm of ambition and obsession, sparring and politicking, pleasure and play. Here we might find Butchers, to be avoided, or Cows that sh-te Fire, or even catch Calvin in his chamber with a Nonne. This is the secret world of the index: an unsung but extraordinary everyday tool, with an illustrious but little-known past. Here, for the first time, its story is told. 
 
Charting its curious path from the monasteries and universities of thirteenth-century Europe to Silicon Valley in the twenty-first, Dennis Duncan reveals how the index has saved heretics from the stake, kept politicians from high office and made us all into the readers we are today. We follow it through German print shops and Enlightenment coffee houses, novelists' living rooms and university laboratories, encountering emperors and popes, philosophers and prime ministers, poets, librarians and - of course - indexers along the way. Revealing its vast role in our evolving literary and intellectual culture, Duncan shows that, for all our anxieties about the Age of Search, we are all index-rakers at heart, and we have been for eight hundred years.

Index, A History of the

Jake Allsop

A collection of 20 extremely short stories for intermediate students in authentic English, covering a wide variety of genre from comedy to adventure and set in countries such as China, France, Israel and Britain.  Each story contains useful language, idioms and everyday expressions. There is a glossary, language practise exercises and discussion questions at the back of each book. These books could be used for class reading or self-study.

Happy Days And Other Very Short Stories

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

Steven Pinker

The Stuff of Thought is an exhilarating work of non-fiction. Surprising, thought-provoking and incredibly enjoyable, there is no other book like it - Steven Pinker will revolutionise the way you think about language. He analyses what words actually mean and how we use them, and he reveals what this can tell us about ourselves. He shows how we use space and motion as metaphors for more abstract ideas, and uncovers the deeper structures of human thought that have been shaped by evolutionary history. He also explores the emotional impact of language, from names to swear words, and shows us the full power that it can have over us. And, with this book, he also shows just how stimulating and entertaining language can be.

The Stuff of Thought

Language as a Window into Human Nature

Bad writing can't be blamed on the Internet, or on 'the kids today'. Good writing has always been hard: a performance requiring pretense, empathy, and a drive for coherence. In The Sense of Style, cognitive scientist and linguist Steven Pinker uses the latest scientific insights to bring us a style and usage guide for the 21st century. Can we distinguish the myths about language from rules that enhance clarity and grace? As Pinker shows, everyone can improve their mastery of writing and their appreciation of the art (yes, 'their').

The Sense of Style

The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century

Rosalind Fergusson

The Penguin Rhyming Dictionary is an indispensable reference companion for anyone who writes verse - whether lyric poet, songwriter or composer of limericks or jingles. Clearly arranged and easy to use, it offers an astonishing wide range of suggestions for rhyming words, from the common and everyday to the more difficult and obscure.

The Penguin Rhyming Dictionary

Rebecca Gowers

Ernest Gowers

'Be short, be simple, be human.' 
 
When Sir Ernest Gowers first wrote Plain Words, it was intended simply as a guide to the proper use of English for the Civil Service. Within a year, however, its humour, charm and authority had made it a bestseller. Since then it has never been out of print. 
 
Six decades on, writer Rebecca Gowers has created a new edition of this now-classic work that both revises and celebrates her great-grandfather's original. Plain Words has been updated to reflect numerous changes in English usage, yet Sir Ernest's distinctive, witty voice is undimmed. And his message remains vital: our writing should be as clear and comprehensible as possible, avoiding superfluous words and clichés - from the jargon of 'commercialese' to the murky euphemisms of politicians. 
 
In a new preface, this edition draws on an extensive private archive, previously hidden away in family cupboards and attics, to tell the story behind a book that has become an institution: the essential guide to making yourself understood.

Plain Words

James Patterson

To be a bookseller or librarian . . . 
 
You have to play detective. 
 
Be a treasure hunter. A matchmaker. A brilliant listener. 
 
A person who creates a kind of magic by pulling a book from a shelf, handing it to someone and saying, 'You've got to read this. You're going to love it'. 
 
In this love letter to the heroes of literacy, James Patterson uncovers true stories from booksellers and librarians. Prepare to enter a world where you can feed your curiosities, discover new voices, and find whatever you need. 
 
Meet the smart and talented people who live between the shelves - and who can't wait to help you find your next great read. 
 
_________________________________ 
 
PRAISE FOR JAMES PATTERSON 
 
'No one gets this big without amazing natural storytelling talent - which is what Jim has, in spades.' LEE CHILD 
 
'James Patterson is The Boss. End of.' IAN RANKIN 
 
'The master storyteller of our times' HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON 
 
'One of the greatest storytellers of all time' PATRICIA CORNWELL 
 
'Patterson is in a class by himself' GUARDIAN

The Secret Lives of Booksellers & Librarians

True stories of the magic of reading

J. P. Davidson

'The way you speak is who you are and the tones of your voice and the tricks of your emailing and tweeting and letter-writing, can be recognised unmistakably in the minds of those who know and love you.' Stephen Fry 
 
 From feral children to fairy-tale princesses, secrets codes, invented languages - even a language that was eaten! - Planet Word uncovers everything you didn't know you needed to know about how language evolves. Learn the tricks to political propaganda, why we can talk but animals can't, discover 3,000-year-old clay tablets that discussed beer and impotence and test yourself at textese - do you know your RMEs from your LOLs? Meet the 105-year-old man who invented modern-day Chinese and all but eradicated illiteracy, and find out why language caused the go-light in Japan to be blue. From the dusty scrolls of the past to the unknown digital future, and with (heart) the first graphic to enter the OED, are we already well on our way to a language without words? 
 
 In a round-the-world trip of a lifetime, discover all this and more as J. P. Davidson travels across our gloriously, endlessly intriguing multilingual Planet Word.

Planet Word

Christopher Fowler

'A delight . . . a glorious, witty and life-affirming ragbag of autobiography, cultural commentary and hard-won wisdom.' ANDREW TAYLOR, author of The Shadows of London 
 
'Perceptive, wise and illuminating . . . an unmissable farewell.' Barry Forshaw, FINANCIAL TIMES 
 
'The most hilarious, life-affirming book you&rsquo;ll read this year.' SAGA magazine 
 
'Wit and wisdom that make every page turn . . . what a fine talent the world has lost.' STARBURST 
 
This is the memoir Christopher Fowler always wanted to write about 'writing'. 
 
It's the story of how a young bookworm growing up in a house where there was nothing to read but knitting pamphlets and motorcycle manuals became a writer - a 'word monkey' - and pursued a sort of career in popular fiction. And it's a book full of brilliant insights into the pleasures and pitfalls of his profession, dos and don'ts for would-be writers, and astute observations on favourite (and not-so-favourite) novelists. 
 
But woven into this hugely entertaining and inspiring reflection on a literary life is an altogether darker thread. In Spring 2020, just as the world went into lockdown, Chris was diagnosed with terminal cancer. And yet there is nothing of the misery memoir about Word Monkey. Past and present intermingle as, in prose as light as air, he relates with wry humour and remarkable honesty what he knows will be the final chapter in his story. 
 
Deeply moving, insightful and surprisingly funny, this is Christopher Fowler's life-affirming account of coming to terms with his own mortality. 
 
'A remarkable book by a remarkable writer: amazingly entertaining and informative and also, for obvious reasons, one of the most moving.' SIMON MASON, author of the DI Wilkins Mysteries 
 
'Wonderful . . . there is no bitterness here, but a hearty celebration of how art defines a life, with dark humour on the right occasions and the deliberate aim to leave a positive message . . . his enthusiasm is infectious and sobering when you are aware that he was dying as he wrote these pages.' Maxim Jacubowski, CRIME TIME

Word Monkey

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

Howard Mittelmark

Sandra Newman

There are many ways prospective authors routinely sabotage their own work. But why leave it to guesswork? Misstep by misstep, How Not to Write a Novel shows how you can ensure that your manuscript never rises above the level of unpublishable drivel; that your characters are unpleasant, dimensionless versions of yourself; that your plot is digressive, tedious and unconvincing; and that your style is reliant on mangled clichés and sesquipedalian malapropisms. Alternatively, you can use it to identify the most common mistakes, avoid them and actually write a book that works. 
 
Guardian Award shortlisted novelist Sandra Newman and veteran editor Howard Mittelmark have distilled 30 years of teaching, editing, writing and reviewing fiction into a hilarious and liberating guide that is the perfect read for anyone who's ever laughed at a badly written piece of prose and for anyone who's ever penned one - and doesn't want to do it again.

How NOT to Write a Novel

200 Mistakes to avoid at All Costs if You Ever Want to Get Published

The English language is crammed with colourful phrases and sayings that we use without thinking every day. It's only when we're asked who smart Alec or Holy Moly were, where feeling in the pink or once in a blue moon come from, or even what letting the cat out of the bag really means that we realize that there's far more to English than we might have thought. 
 
Luckily enough, we now have Albert Jack. And rather than resting on his laurels after the enormous success of Red Herrings and White Elephants, he has continued his search around the world, exploring the origins of hundreds more phrases. The fascinating stories he has uncovered come from the rich traditions of the navy, army and law to confidence tricksters and highwaymen, from the practices of ancient civilizations to Music Hall and pubs. Determined to chase each shaggy dog story to the bitter end, his discoveries are even stranger and more memorable this time round. 
 
Shaggy Dogs and Black Sheep is a compulsively readable, highly enlightening look at the phrases we use all the time but rarely consider. From the skin of your teeth to the graveyard shift - you'll never speak (or even think) English in the same way again.

Shaggy Dogs and Black Sheep

The Origins of Even More Phrases We Use Every Day

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

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 languages of the world are full of amazing, amusing and illuminating words and expressions that will improve absolutely everybody's quality of life. All they need is this book! 
 
This bumper volume gathers all three of Adam Jacot de Boinod's acclaimed books about language - The Wonder of Whiffling, The Meaning of Tingo and Toujours Tingo (their fans include everyone from Stephen Fry to Michael Palin) - into one highly entertaining, keenly priced compendium. As Mariella Frostup said 'You'll never be lost for words again!'

I Never Knew There Was a Word For It

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

John Cleese

Creativity is usually regarded as a mysterious, rare gift that only a few possess. John Cleese begs to differ, and in this short, immensely practical and often very amusing guide he shows it's a skill that anyone can acquire. Drawing on his lifelong experience as a writer, he shares his insights into the nature of the creative process, and offers advice on how to get your own inventive juices flowing. 
____________________________ 
 
'Humorous and practical . . . Whether you're hoping to write a novel or paint a masterpiece, you're sure to feel inspired' OK Magazine 
 
'His candor is endearing . . . An upbeat guide to the creative process' Kirkus 
 
'A jovial romp . . . Cleese fans will enjoy, and writers and other artists will breeze through, picking up a few nuggets of wisdom along the way' The Festival Review 
 
'Wise words on the serious business of being silly' Sunday Business Post

Creativity

A Short and Cheerful Guide

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.

Showing results for: ‘Steve Roud’

Filters

Category

Publication Date

Format

Imprint

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter