From Afterwit to Zemblanity: 100 Endangered Words Brought Back to Life

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SKU
26022
R48.00
Quick Overview
Though our 'information age' is drowning us in words - most notably through the rapid rise in popularity of the blog - our collective vocabulary seems to be growing ever more impoverished. So here is a collection of rare and neglected words that, if reintroduced, will help breathe much-needed life, savour and vitality back into the English language and will delight anyone keen to enrich their verbal repertoire. Each of these 100 hand-picked words comes with a precise definition, a quotation from literature, a personal note from the author validating its inclusion in the book, and, as a light-hearted finale, an example of its use in a witty piece of serialised fiction. And these words are not just fun, they're useful! Zaftig, for example, allows you to say 'pleasingly plump' without giving mortal offence. And what about millihelen, a unit equal to 'enough beauty to launch a single ship'?"Small tear on dustjacket"
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When a word perfectly captures a human truth, humans respond to it in the same way that they respond to a beautiful melody. They smile. They nod their heads. They tell others of their discovery. So says Simon Hertnon in his introduction to Endangered Words, and after wrapping your tongue around the lexical rarities he offers up tohis readers, you'll have to agree Hertnon provides one hundred hand-selected rarities, and, in a virtuoso display of concinnity and logodaedaly, breathes life into them with his lucid descriptions of their meaning and engaging examples of their usage.

Thanks to Endangered Words, you no longer have to be at a loss for words or reach for the cliched and commonplace. The English language is brimming with ambrosial alternatives, and this compendium offers the cream of the crop.

Filled with words to be treasured for their elegant precision, from anacampserote to sprezzatura to zemblanity, Endangered Words is the perfect handbook for writers, an excellent resource for communicators, and an entertaining read for anyone with an appetite forthe very brightest gems of the English language.

*Small tear on dustjacket*

More Information
AuthorSimon Hertnon
PublisherNew Holland Publishers
PlaceLondon
Year2008
ISBN9781869661939
BindingHardcover
ConditionGood
Dustjacket ConditionGood
CommentsSmall tear on dustjacket
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