The Penguin Dictionary Of Curious And Interesting Words

Curious George gets curious about words in this illustrated dictionary designed for children from preschool through kindergarten. In an illustrated introduction to this unique dictionary, Curious George learns how to look up words before embarking on an educational adventure through a vocabulary list chosen specifically for children ages four to six. The dictionary itself presents approximately 600 words, with six words to a page. Each entry is illustrated with a full-color drawing, and more than half of the illustrations include a sample sentence that puts the word in context. At the end of the book, eight full-page features present groups of thematically related words such as colors, shapes, and numbers.

Why was the number of Hardy's taxi significant? Why does Graham's number need its own notation? How many grains of sand would fill the universe? What is the connection between the Golden Ratio and sunflowers? Why is 999 more than a distress call? All these questions and a host more are answered in this fascinating book, which has now been newly revised, with nearly 200 extra entries and some 250 additions to the original entries. From minus one and its square root, via cyclic, weird, amicable, perfect, untouchable and lucky numbers, aliquot sequences, the Cattle problem, Pascal's triangle and the Syracuse algorithm, music, magic and maps, pancakes, polyhedra and palindromes, to numbers so large that they boggle the imagination, all you ever wanted to know about numbers is here. There is even a comprehensive index for those annoying occasions when you remember the name but can't recall the number.

This is a fascinating and enjoyable anthology of words with curious and interesting origins.

A dictionary of English's 3500 most interesting and/or beautiful words. Many are obscure words -- this book is not useful for foreigners learning English, but best enjoyed by fluent or native speakers. A book for word-lovers who enjoy learning and appreciating more of the English language. Includes some poetical quotes showing usage and select etymologies.

For anyone who wants to make fewer (not less) grammar mistakes, a lively, effective, and witty guide to all the ins and outs of the English language, reminiscent of the New York Times bestseller Eats, Shoots & Leaves. Our language is changing, literary levels are declining, and our grasp of grammar is at a crisis point. From commas to colons, apostrophes to adverbs, there are countless ways we can make mistakes when writing or speaking. But do not despair! Great Britain’s most popular grammar guru has created the ultimate modern manual for English speakers on both sides of the Atlantic. In this brilliantly funny and accessible guide to proper punctuation and so much more, Gyles Brandreth explores the linguistic horrors of our times, tells us what we’ve been doing wrong and shows us how, in the future, we can get it right every time. Covering everything from dangling participles to transitive verbs, from age-old conundrums like “lay” vs. “lie,” to the confounding influences of social media on our everyday language, Have You Eaten Grandma? is an endlessly useful and entertaining resource for all.

When one looks at the history of English Studies there has been a noticeable proliferation of research interests since the 1970s. As a result of such development, attempts have been made to create a new basis for communication and cooperation inside Anglistics and across disciplines. Making a case for a Dialogic Anglistics is such an attempt. A Dialogic Anglistics is based on a normative concept of dialogue aiming for egalitarian forms of cooperation both inside, between and across disciplines leading to the redefinition of old and creation of manifold new directions for English Studies. In the nineteen articles presented in this volume dialogic encounters are encouraged both within and between different fields within Anglistics. Furthermore, dialogic links are created with colleagues from other academic disciplines.