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Language is always changing. No one knows where it is going but the best way to future-cast is to look at the past. John Simpson animates for us a tradition of researching and editing, showing us both the technical lexicography needed to understand a word, and the careful poetry needed to construct its definition. He challenges both the idea that dictionaries are definitive, and the notion that language is falling apart.
He splices his stories with entertaining and erudite diversions into the history and origin of words such as 'kangaroo', 'hot-dog' , 'pommie', 'bicycle' , not ignoring those swearwords often classed as 'Anglo-Saxon' !
The book will speak to anyone who uses a dictionary, 'word people' , history lovers, students and parents.
ISBN/EAN | 9781408706732 |
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Author | John Simpson |
Publisher | Little Brown |
Publication date | 13 Oct 2016 |
Format | Paperback |