Download or read book A Dictionary of Euphemisms written by R. W. Holder and published by 교보문고. This book was released on 1995 with total page 506 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We all use euphemisms every day. We speak of "full-figured" women. We "fudge" on our income tax. We step lively to avoid "horse apples"--and step even livelier in the grip of the "Aztec Two-step." We say that the dead have "bit the dust" or have been "promoted to glory." Now, in A Dictionary of Euphemisms, Revised Edition, R. W. Holder gives us an engaging volume that celebrates this human tendency to use mild, vague or roundabout expressions rather than those which are blunt, precise, and disagreeably true. Here are thousands of entertaining and informative entries that range from long-established circumlocutions such as "everlasting life," "the Grim Reaper," "powder room," and "house of ill repute," to recent coinages such as "odorously challenged" (smelly), "corporate entertainment" (bribery), "AMW - actress, model, whatever" (prostitute), "downsizing" (laying off workers), and "white-knuckler" (a commercial flight on a small aircraft). Arranged in alphabetical order, the Dictionary gives definitions, examples from real authors, and historical explanations where appropriate. Holder also includes an extensive bibliography and, equally important, a Thematic Index, so that readers can look up euphemistic words and expressions for Death, Mental Illness, Narcotics, Obesity, Poverty, and other topics. A Dictionary of Euphemisms is a browser's delight and an essential reference book for all lovers of language. Readers will find in it a captivating guide to the art of not saying what we mean.
Download or read book A Dictionary of Euphemisms and Other Doubletalk written by Hugh Rawson and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Euphemania written by Ralph Keyes and published by Little, Brown Spark. This book was released on 2010-12-14 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How did die become kick the bucket, underwear become unmentionables, and having an affair become hiking the Appalachian trail? Originally used to avoid blasphemy, honor taboos, and make nice, euphemisms have become embedded in the fabric of our language. Euphemania traces the origins of euphemisms from a tool of the church to a form of gentility to today's instrument of commercial, political, and postmodern doublespeak. As much social commentary as a book for word lovers, Euphemania is a lively and thought-provoking look at the power of words and our power over them.
Download or read book Fair of Speech written by Dennis Joseph Enright and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1985 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 16 essays that reveal the behaviour, beliefs and fears that prompt us to circumlocate some of the more basic facts of life.
Download or read book Euphemism Dysphemism written by Keith Allan and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1991 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Euphemism and Dysphemism In this fascinating study, Keith Allan and Kate Burrige examine the linguistic, social, and psychological aspects of this intriguing universal practice.
Download or read book The Stuff of Thought written by Steven Pinker and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2007-09-11 with total page 524 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This New York Times bestseller is an exciting and fearless investigation of language from the author of Rationality, The Better Angels of Our Nature and The Sense of Style and Enlightenment Now. "Curious, inventive, fearless, naughty." --The New York Times Book Review Bestselling author Steven Pinker possesses that rare combination of scientific aptitude and verbal eloquence that enables him to provide lucid explanations of deep and powerful ideas. His previous books - including the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Blank Slate - have catapulted him into the limelight as one of today's most important popular science writers. In The Stuff of Thought, Pinker presents a fascinating look at how our words explain our nature. Considering scientific questions with examples from everyday life, The Stuff of Thought is a brilliantly crafted and highly readable work that will appeal to fans of everything from The Selfish Gene and Blink to Eats, Shoots & Leaves.
Download or read book Dictionary of Euphemisms written by John Ayto and published by Bloomsbury Pub Limited. This book was released on 2000 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We may enjoy freedom of speech, but when dealing with certain subjects - for instance death, poverty, physical appearance - we are rarely free to express ourselves directly. Personal shame, the frailty of those we speak to and society's politically correct standards have all contributed to the ever-growing collection of descriptive, and often hilarious, expressions created to circumnavigate the unmentionable. This is a guide to the use of euphemisms and art of polite conversatiion. Over 3000 euphemisms are presented in contextual essays under such headings as funerals, male genitals, gambling and employment. These essays are supported by an alphabetical index for accessibility and the book is suited for either close reading or reference use. The guide also examines the origins of euphemisms and includes popular and humourous examples including "houses of accomodation" containing "ladies of the night" and "the filth" arresting "liberators" of "readies"."
Download or read book The Contemporary Dictionary of Sexual Euphemisms written by Jordan Tate and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2007-01-09 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Until now, no dictionary has ever attempted to record the fascinating and often raunchy inventory of English sexual euphemisms. Jordan Tate has confronted this task with gusto and the results are nothing short of gratifying. The Contemporary Dictionary of Sexual Euphemisms is a hilarious, unabashed, at times shocking compilation of every sexual euphemism you've ever heard—and many more you haven't. Would you be offended if someone called you a "back door burglar"? Ever heard of a "five against one"? Would you rather do the "Little Dutch Boy" or the "Little Red Riding Hood"? Along with both a literal and a sexual definition of each euphemism, this dictionary also has photographs, and, of course, an example of each term used in a sentence—all in an effort to irreverently entertain and inform. A perfect guilty pleasure for anyone who ever got a thrill looking up dirty words in the dictionary as a kid, the Contemporary Dictionary is also a must-have reference tool for those just plain too shy to ask what a "pearl necklace" really is.
Download or read book Slang and Euphemism written by Richard A. Spears and published by Berkley. This book was released on 2001 with total page 454 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A lexicon of "improper" English From slang terminology describing various bodily functions and sexual acts, to the centuries-old cant of thieves and prostitutes, to the language of the modern drug culture, here are 14, 500 entries and 32, 000 definitions of all the words and expressions so carefully omitted from standard dictionaries and polite conversation. Extensively cross-referenced for easy access, this third abridged edition contains almost 300 new entries and definitions. So whether you're a writer seeking to create a more authentic dialogue, a crossword-puzzle addict in search of an obscure eighteenth-century expression, or a reader interested in the more colorful aspects of the English language, you'll find that a wealth of words awaits you in... Slang and Euphemism
Download or read book Very Nice Ways to Say Very Bad Things written by Linda Berdoll and published by Sourcebooks, Inc.. This book was released on 2007-05-01 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At a loss for words, hockey puck? You can always quote Shakespeare... Or delve into this entertaining compendium of insults and verbal abuse, all couched in language of the most uplifting nature. Filled with common and not-so-common zingers that will both shock you and make you laugh your @$$! off. Includes: Exactly how to address individual mounds of foul, undigested lumps of donkey entrails That "F"-ing word and other intensives Many, many ways to refer to the part that goes over the fence last More euphemisms, synonyms, phrases and descriptions than you knew existed for sexual activities, proclivities, untoward incidents, accidents of nature and the beast with two backs Addressing the mentally incompetent, the cerebrally challenged, the absurdly bureaucratic, the impossibly rational and other instances of ineptitude, obfuscation or obstruction and much more!
Download or read book The Wordsworth Book of Euphemism written by Judith S. Neaman and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Politics and the English Language written by George Orwell and published by Renard Press Ltd. This book was released on 2021-01-01 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: George Orwell set out ‘to make political writing into an art’, and to a wide extent this aim shaped the future of English literature – his descriptions of authoritarian regimes helped to form a new vocabulary that is fundamental to understanding totalitarianism. While 1984 and Animal Farm are amongst the most popular classic novels in the English language, this new series of Orwell’s essays seeks to bring a wider selection of his writing on politics and literature to a new readership. In Politics and the English Language, the second in the Orwell’s Essays series, Orwell takes aim at the language used in politics, which, he says, ‘is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind’. In an age where the language used in politics is constantly under the microscope, Orwell’s Politics and the English Language is just as relevant today, and gives the reader a vital understanding of the tactics at play. 'A writer who can – and must – be rediscovered with every age.' — Irish Times
Download or read book Forbidden Words written by Keith Allan and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2006-10-05 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many words and expressions are viewed as 'taboo', such as those used to describe sex, our bodies and their functions, and those used to insult other people. This 2006 book provides a fascinating insight into taboo language and its role in everyday life. It looks at the ways we use language to be polite or impolite, politically correct or offensive, depending on whether we are 'sweet-talking', 'straight-talking' or being deliberately rude. Using a range of colourful examples, it shows how we use language playfully and figuratively in order to swear, to insult, and also to be politically correct, and what our motivations are for doing so. It goes on to examine the differences between institutionalized censorship and the ways individuals censor their own language. Lively and revealing, Forbidden Words will fascinate anyone who is interested in how and why we use and avoid taboos in daily conversation.
Download or read book Rawson s Dictionary of Euphemisms and Other Doubletalk written by Hugh Rawson and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compilation of linguistic fig leaves and verbal flourishes for artful users of the English language.
Download or read book Vague Language written by Joanna Channell and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1994 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a major descriptive study of linguistic vagueness. It argues that strategies for being vague constitute a key aspect of the communicative competence of the native speaker of English.
Download or read book Kind Words written by Judith S. Neaman and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 373 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Containing over 4000 euphemisms, this reference guide explains how and why we coin euphemisms to hide fears, abide by taboos, mask secret desires, excuse misbehaviour and mention the unmentionable. The meaning, origin and usage of each word is fully detailed.
Download or read book Words on the Move written by John McWhorter and published by Henry Holt and Company. This book was released on 2016-09-06 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A bestselling linguist takes us on a lively tour of how the English language is evolving before our eyes -- and why we should embrace this transformation and not fight it Language is always changing -- but we tend not to like it. We understand that new words must be created for new things, but the way English is spoken today rubs many of us the wrong way. Whether it’s the use of literally to mean “figuratively” rather than “by the letter,” or the way young people use LOL and like, or business jargon like What’s the ask? -- it often seems as if the language is deteriorating before our eyes. But the truth is different and a lot less scary, as John McWhorter shows in this delightful and eye-opening exploration of how English has always been in motion and continues to evolve today. Drawing examples from everyday life and employing a generous helping of humor, he shows that these shifts are a natural process common to all languages, and that we should embrace and appreciate these changes, not condemn them. Words on the Move opens our eyes to the surprising backstories to the words and expressions we use every day. Did you know that silly once meant “blessed”? Or that ought was the original past tense of owe? Or that the suffix -ly in adverbs is actually a remnant of the word like? And have you ever wondered why some people from New Orleans sound as if they come from Brooklyn? McWhorter encourages us to marvel at the dynamism and resilience of the English language, and his book offers a lively journey through which we discover that words are ever on the move and our lives are all the richer for it.
