Author: John Ayto
Publisher:
ISBN: OCLC:1195480093
Category: English language
Page: 352
View: 222
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: 192
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. ... Wobbly Bits and Other Euphemisms.
Author: Ralph Keyes
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 9780316121958
Category: Language Arts & Disciplines
Page: 288
View: 888
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, ...
Author: Ralph Keyes
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 9781848544567
Category: History
Page: 300
View: 386
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
... 285 , 294 ; Ann Bertram , NTC's Dictionary of Euphemisms , Chicago : NTC , 1998 , 1999 , 59 , 163 , 271 , 281 ; Ayto , Wobbly Bits and Other Euphemisms ...
Author: Ralph Keyes
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780190466770
Category: Language Arts & Disciplines
Page: 320
View: 710
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 ...
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.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.
Author: Jean Aitchison
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 9781444131468
Category: Language Arts & Disciplines
Page: 272
View: 181
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
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.
Author: Keith Allan
Publisher: Oxford Handbooks
ISBN: 9780198808190
Category: Language Arts & Disciplines
Page: 480
View: 311
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 Idioms
... Twentieth Century Words, and Wobbly Bits and Other Euphemisms. He was also editor of the nineteenth edition of Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.
Author: John Ayto
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780192584380
Category: Reference
Page: 448
View: 369
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.Stone the Crows
Drawing on the unique resources of the Oxford English Dictionary and offering coverage of over 6,000 slang words and expressions from the Cockney 'abaht' to the American term 'zowie', Stone the Crows is the most lively and authoritative ...
Author: John Ayto
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: UCSC:32106019651105
Category: Reference
Page: 408
View: 233
Drawing on the unique resources of the Oxford English Dictionary and offering coverage of over 6,000 slang words and expressions from the Cockney 'abaht' to the American term 'zowie', Stone the Crows is the most lively and authoritative dictionary of slang from the 20th and 21st centuries.Oxford Dictionary of Idioms
This dictionary defines a myriad of phrases and sayings that are used daily in the English language.
Author: John Ayto
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0198845626
Category: Language Arts & Disciplines
Page: 472
View: 526
This major new edition contains entries for over 6,000 idioms, including 700 entirely new entries, based on Oxford's language monitoring and the ongoing third edition of the Oxford English Dictionary.From the Horse s Mouth
This edition also features a greatly increased number of cross-references, making it ideal for quick reference. Many entries include additional features which give more detailed background on the idiom in question.
Author: John Ayto
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780199543793
Category: Language Arts & Disciplines
Page: 408
View: 775
Did you know that 'flavour of the month' originated in a marketing campaign in American ice-cream parlours in the 1940s, when a particular flavour would be specially promoted for a month at a time? And did you know that 'off the cuff' refers to the rather messy practice of writing impromptu notes on one's shirt cuff before speaking in public? These and many more idioms are explained and put into context in this third edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Idioms. The volume takes a fresh look at the idiomatic phrases and sayings that make English the rich and intriguing language that it is. This major new edition contains entries for over 6000 idioms, including 700 entirely new entries, based on Oxford's language monitoring and the ongoing third edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. These include a range of recently established idioms such as 'the elephant in the corner', 'go figure', 'like a rat up a drainpipe', 'sex on legs', 'step up to the plate', 'too posh to push', 'a walk in the park', 'win ugly'. This edition also features a greatly increased number of cross-references, making it ideal for quick reference. Many entries include additional features which give more detailed background on the idiom in question. For example, did you know that 'taken aback' was adopted from nautical terminology that described a ship unable to move forward because of a strong headwind pressing its sails back against the mast? Anyone interested in the colourful side of the Englishlanguage will get hours of fun browsing from this fascinating and informative volume.The Last Word
... 2003) Ayto, John, Wobbly Bits (London: A&C Black, 2007) Bergen, Peter L., The Osama bin ... 2006) Rees, Nigel, A Man about a Dog: Euphemisms and other.
Author: Ben Macintyre
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 9781408816844
Category: Language Arts & Disciplines
Page: 320
View: 606
Do you know your geek-speak from your geek-chic? Ever wanted to put Humpty Dumpty together again? Can you distinguish Spanglish from Chinglish? We adapt words from other languages, from slang, from developments in science, literature and art. Learn the advantages of having your own signature word; why the lifts in the House of Commons have posh accents; and discover the discreet art of the loophemism. Witty and utterly delightful, The Last Word will tease, tickle and tantalise those who enjoy all things lexical.Face Value
to being an insult, but a “skinny bitch” brings to mind a different sort of ... and we've gotten quicker to name and meaner about our wobbly bits too.
Author: Autumn Whitefield-Madrano
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 9781476754048
Category: Psychology
Page: 288
View: 901
"Part social commentary, part cultural analysis, part careful investigation and part powerful personal anecdotes, a provocative book explores the relationship between appearance and science, social media, sex, friendship, language and advertising to show how beauty actually affects us day to day,"--NoveList.Unconditional
Island Wars
The Q was finished, although it looked a bit wobbly to me. ... She put the fabric and the thread and all the other needlework stuff intoawicker basketather ...
Author: Michael Evans
Publisher: Down East Books
ISBN: 9781608932320
Category: Fiction
Page: 210
View: 139
Island Wars originally appeared on DownEast.com and ran for roughly three months, emulating in the real time the passage of time in the book. It chronicles the daily exploits of Donovan Graham, a recent college graduate whose first assignment as a newspaper reporter is to cover the escalating border dispute playing out between the United States and Canada on an island off the Maine coast. By the end of the summer, Donovan has become quite ensconced amid the quirky residents of Grand Seal Island. And the resolution of the dispute will have a greater impact on him than he knows. Each chapter represents a daily blog post and fictional comments at the end of most chapters enhance both the story and the sensation of reading an Internet post.Out of Time Series Box Set III
A Rip in Time
She'd overheard two maids talking about the doctor theother day, one warning the otherto avoidbeing ... He walked slowly, and bit wobbly backtohis chair.
Author: Monique Martin
Publisher: Monique Martin
ISBN:
Category: Fiction
Page: 280
View: 253
The Crosses are back in book 7 of the Out of Time Series. An old enemy returns threatening to destroy not just Simon and Elizabeth but the timeline itself. To keep that from happening, they travel back to 1888 London to find Jack the Ripper…and save his life. If he dies, the timeline changes, everything they know and their lives together, will be lost. But they soon discover the only thing harder than saving a monster is finding him. Other Books in the Out of Time Series Out of Time: A Time Travel Mystery (Book #1) When the Walls Fell (Book #2) Fragments (Book #3) The Devil's Due (Book #4) Thursday's Child (Book #5) Sands of Time (Book #6) A Rip in Time (Book #7) A Time of Shadows (Book #8) Voyage in Time: Titanic (Book #9) Revolution in Time (Book #10) Time travel romance, mystery, fantasy, Jack the Ripper, victorian, historical fantasyDrumbeat Erica
We looked at each other. ... I'm just a little bit wobbly. ... Taking a trip was a euphemism in certain circles, those circles being people who had taken ...
Author: Stephen Marlowe
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 9781453252581
Category: Fiction
Page: 154
View: 479
Protecting an actor takes Drum into the seedy underworld of psychedelia Terminal illness and regret go hand-in-hand. Two months ago, Amos Littlejohn was in the prime of life, and had plenty of energy to be enraged when his pregnant daughter was abandoned by her husband, matinee idol Ahmed Shiraz. Now stricken with leukemia, Littlejohn is near death, and beginning to regret taking out a contract on the actor’s life. He hires international private eye Chester Drum to call off the hit and protect Shiraz until his life is safe. On his first night on the job, Drum’s partner takes a shotgun blast meant for the actor. Wanting nothing more than to wring Shiraz’s neck, Drum follows him to Europe, where he must contend with assassins, beatniks, and the powerful effects of an experimental drug called LSD.Love and Other Alien Experiences
He pulls back and I wobble a bit. ... It takes me a second to realize that this isn't some weird sexual euphemism. ... We'll make another project tomorrow.
Author: Kerry Winfrey
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
ISBN: 9781250119537
Category: Young Adult Fiction
Page: 256
View: 400
I'm never going outside again. Mallory hasn't left the house in sixty-seven days--since the day her dad left. She attends her classes via webcam, rarely leaves her room (much to her brother's chagrin), and spends most of her time watching The X-Files or chatting with the always obnoxious BeamMeUp on New Mexico's premier alien message board. But when she's shockingly nominated for homecoming queen, her life takes a surprising turn. She slowly begins to open up to the world outside. And maybe if she can get her popular jock neighbor Brad Kirkpatrick to be her homecoming date, her classmates will stop calling her a freak. In this heartwarming and humorous debut, Mallory discovers first love and the true meaning of home--just by taking one small step outside her house.