Author: John Ayto
Publisher:
ISBN: OCLC:1195480093
Category: English language
Page: 352
View: 856
Wobbly Bits and Other Euphemisms
Wobbly Bits is the essential guide to polite conversation. Covering everything from the politically incorrect to the seriously taboo, this humorous book offers over 3,000 ways to avoid speaking your mind!
Author: John Ayto
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 0713678402
Category: Language Arts & Disciplines
Page: 352
View: 215
Wobbly Bits is the essential guide to polite conversation. Covering everything from the politically incorrect to the seriously taboo, this humorous book offers over 3,000 ways to avoid speaking your mind! Keep this book as your secret weapon (that 'distinguished, cosmetically different person of size' your friend keeps mentioning might just not be your ideal date!), and you'll never be caught out again! Subjects covered include crime, sins, sex, the body and its parts, clothing and nakedness, bodily functions and secretions, illness and injury, old age and death, work, poverty, government and politics, warfare and race.Euphemania
Our Love Affair with Euphemisms Ralph Keyes ... Euphemism and Dysphemism: Language Used as Shield and Weapon. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991. ———. ... Wobbly Bits and Other Euphemisms. London: A & C Black, 2007.
Author: Ralph Keyes
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 9780316121958
Category: Language Arts & Disciplines
Page: 288
View: 462
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.Unmentionables
Any book such as this one draws on the work of others. ... August 1998) Ayto, John, Wobbly Bits and Other Euphemisms (London: A & C Black, 2007) Bache, Richard Meade, Vulgarisms and Other Errors of Speech (Philadelphia: Claxton, Remsen, ...
Author: Ralph Keyes
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 9781848544567
Category: History
Page: 300
View: 894
We say a lot about ourselves by what we don't say. Words and phrases like 'collateral damage', 'wardrobe malfunction', 'vertically challenged', and old favourites like 'unmentionables' (trousers, apparently) or 'lady of the night' - all are ways of not using particular words. UNMENTIONABLES is a rollicking exploration of the history of euphemistic usage, looking at how taboos connected to sex, death, religion, war, politics, business and matters of status have produced an extraordinary linguistic creativity, and how euphemistic speech has changed over the centuries. It looks at how euphemisms are born, and how they die (or 'experience a negative outcome') and it explores why it is that we create euphemisms, and the different purposes - from the benign to the sinister - that they serve. (Is 'euphemism' a euphemism for lying?) Lively, entertaining, and crammed with fascinating nuggets of information, UNMENTIONABLES is a celebration of the richness of language. Why have just one word for something when you can have ten other words instead?The Hidden History of Coined Words
... of Euphemisms , Oxford : Oxford University Press , 1987 , 2007 , 269 , 285 , 294 ; Ann Bertram , NTC's Dictionary of Euphemisms , Chicago : NTC , 1998 , 1999 , 59 , 163 , 271 , 281 ; Ayto , Wobbly Bits and Other Euphemisms , 104-10 ...
Author: Ralph Keyes
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780190466770
Category: Language Arts & Disciplines
Page: 320
View: 253
Successful word-coinages--those that stay in currency for a good long time--tend to conceal their beginnings. We take them at face value and rarely when and where they were first minted. Engaging, illuminating, and authoritative, Ralph Keyes's The Hidden History of Coined Words explores the etymological underworld of terms and expressions and uncovers plenty of hidden gems. He also finds some fascinating patterns, such as that successful neologisms are as likely to be created by chance as by design. A remarkable number of new words were coined whimsically, originally intended to troll or taunt. Knickers, for example, resulted from a hoax; big bang from an insult. Casual wisecracking produced software, crowdsource, and blog. More than a few resulted from happy accidents, such as typos, mistranslations, and mishearing (bigly and buttonhole), or from being taken entirely out of context (robotics). Neologizers (a Thomas Jefferson coinage) include not just scholars and writers but cartoonists, columnists, children's book authors. Wimp originated with a book series, as did goop, and nerd from a book by Dr. Seuss. Coinages are often contested, controversy swirling around such terms as gonzo, mojo, and booty call. Keyes considers all contenders, while also leading us through the fray between new word partisans, and those who resist them strenuously. He concludes with advice about how to make your own successful coinage. The Hidden History of Coined Words will appeal not just to word mavens but history buffs, trivia contesters, and anyone who loves the immersive power of language.Sex in Language
Euphemistic and Dysphemistic Metaphors in Internet forums Eliecer Crespo-Fernández ... Ayto, J. (2007), Wobbly Bits and Other Euphemisms: Over 3,000 Ways to Avoid Speaking Your Mind, London: A & C Black. Barcelona, A. (ed.) ...
Author: Eliecer Crespo-Fernández
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 9781472596543
Category: Language Arts & Disciplines
Page: 240
View: 664
Metaphor has long provided a rich way to speak about the unspeakable, to refer to delicate issues. Sex is one such area. This book follows a cognitive-linguistic and relevance-theoretic approach to the language of sex, considering metaphor as a bridge that brings together mind and language. It does this through the analysis of the antithetical mechanisms of verbal mitigation and offence. These two mechanisms are (more commonly know as) euphemism and (its lesser known companion term) dysphemism. The volume reflects on the social and communicative functions that sexual metaphors perform in a sample of almost two hundred postings taken from internet forums. How do people think about sex? How do people avoid talking about sex? How do people paraphrase sexual topics? It offers an account of how real language users understand sexual taboo in present-day English and also a great grounding in manual corpus work on a qualitative level.Oxford Dictionary of Idioms
More than 400 idioms have been added to this new edition, and comprise recently coined and common sayings alike.
Author: John Ayto
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780192584380
Category: Reference
Page: 448
View: 429
What is it to 'cock a snook', where is the land of Nod, and who was first to go the extra mile? Find the answers to these questions (and many more!) in the new edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Idioms. This dictionary uncovers the meanings of myriad phrases and sayings that are used daily in the English language, encompassing more than 10,000 figurative expressions, similes, sayings, and proverbs. More than 400 idioms have been added to this new edition, and comprise recently coined and common sayings alike. New additions include 'back of the net', 'drag and drop', 'go it alone', 'how come?', 'if you ask me', 'make your skin crawl', and 'woe betide'. Illustrative quotations sourced from the Oxford corpora give contextual examples of the idioms and their standard usage, and many entries include background information on the origins of the idiom in question. An updated thematic index makes for easy navigation, and anyone who is interested in the origins and diversity of English vernacular will have hours of fun browsing this fascinating dictionary.Aitchison s Linguistics
Ayto, John, Wobbly bits and other euphemisms (London: A & C Black, 2007). Over 3,000 euphemisms arranged under topics, such as crime, sex, warfare. Ayto, John and Simpson, John, Stone the crows: Oxford dictionary of modern slang, ...
Author: Jean Aitchison
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 9781444131468
Category: Language Arts & Disciplines
Page: 272
View: 749
This classic book is a straightforward introduction to linguistics which attempts to answer two fundamental questions: 'What is language?' and 'How does language work?' It outlines the scope of linguistics, explaining basic concepts and essential terminology with examples drawn mainly from English. Sound patterning, syntax and meaning - the inner core of linguistics - are discussed simply and clearly, as are the rapidly growing areas of pragmatics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics and stylistics. You will find this contemporary, easy-to-read book essential to broadening your understanding of the subtleties and power of language. NOT GOT MUCH TIME? One, five and ten-minute introductions to key principles to get you started. AUTHOR INSIGHTS Lots of instant help with common problems and quick tips for success, based on the author's many years of experience. TEST YOURSELF Tests in the book and online to keep track of your progress. EXTEND YOUR KNOWLEDGE Extra online articles at www.teachyourself.com to give you a richer understanding of linguistics. FIVE THINGS TO REMEMBER Quick refreshers to help you remember the key facts. TRY THIS Innovative exercises illustrate what you've learnt and how to use it.The Oxford Handbook of Taboo Words and Language
London: Bloomsbury. Ayto, J. (2007). Wobbly Bits and Other Euphemisms. Over 3,000 Ways to Avoid Speaking your Mind. London: A&C Black. Azzaro, Gabriele (2005). Four-Letter Films. Roma: Aracne. Bach, Kent (1999). References 393.
Author: Keith Allan
Publisher: Oxford Handbooks
ISBN: 9780198808190
Category: Language Arts & Disciplines
Page: 480
View: 945
This volume brings together experts from a wide range of disciplines to define and describe tabooed words and language and to investigate the reasons and beliefs behind them. In general, taboo is defined as a proscription of behaviour for a specific community, time, and context. In terms of language, taboo applies to instances of language behaviour: the use of certain words in certain contexts. The existence of linguistic taboos and their management lead to the censoring of behaviour and, as a consequence, to language change and development. Chapters in this volume explore the multiple types of tabooed language from a variety of perspectives, such as sociolinguistics, anthropology, philosophy, psychology, historical linguistics, and neurolinguistics, and with reference to fields such as law, publishing, politics, and advertising. Topics covered include impoliteness, swearing, censorship, taboo in deaf communities, translation of tabooed words, and the use of taboo in banter and comedy.Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms
Offers entries for over six thousand idioms, including seven hundred new to this edition, and provides background information, additional cross-references, and national variants.
Author: John Ayto
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780199543786
Category: Foreign Language Study
Page: 408
View: 525
Offers entries for over six thousand idioms, including seven hundred new to this edition, and provides background information, additional cross-references, and national variants.