Dictionaries & Languages

Winner of Best Book, Publication, or Recording prize at the Falstaff Awards 2015 and shortlisted for the 2016 SLA Information Book Award. This innovative dictionary is written by leading experts in linguistics and Shakespeare, David and Ben Crystal. It provides students with invaluable support while they read and understand Shakespeare's plays.

Banter, chit-chat, gossip, natter, tete-a-tete: these are just a few of the terms for the varied ways in which we interact with one another through conversation. David Crystal explores the factors that motivate so many different kinds of talk and reveals the rules we use unconsciously, even in the most routine exchanges of everyday conversation.

From the first words of an infant to the peculiar modern dialect of text messaging, this book reveals language's myriad intricacies and quirks. It sheds light on the development of unique linguistic styles, the origins of obscure accents, and the search for the first written word.

The Oxford Guide to Plain English offers practical guidelines to help readers make their writing clearer by improving structure, word choice, grammar, punctuation, and layout. This new edition gives expert and up-to-date advice on all aspects of the writing process, from planning the material successfully to writing in the most user-friendly way.

A reference work for those looking for help in order to write a letter, prepare a speech, solve a crossword, or write any manner of prose or poem. It includes various buzzwords and phrases, information about signs of the zodiac and the origins of familiar quotations.

The main objectives of the book are to assess the position of the Irish language in Ireland today, explore why Irish attracts such passionate feelings; to explain why extensive teaching of the Irish language has had almost no effect in making Irish speakers out of the general Irish population, and to outline how the language could be revived.

Take the scenic route to knowledge.

The perfect present for word-lovers: a word for every day of the year: 'WORD PERFECT is a golden vaulted cave of fascinating and funny hidden gems' JO BRAND