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A Century of New Words by John Ayto
Category: Languages and Reference
Take a fascinating journey from plastic (1909) to podcasting (2004). This vivid picture of the last 105 years is based on John Ayto's critically acclaimed Twentieth Century Words, and was published in hardback as Movers and Shakers: A chronology of words that shaped our age. It offers a selection of the ...Show more
Brewer's Dictionary of Modern Phrase and Fable by John Ayto
Category: Languages and Reference
Focusing on the English of the 20th and 21st centuries, this impressive volume examines the linguistic and cultural significance of over 7,500 popular words and phrases. Its highly browsable encyclopedic entries cover topics as diverse as catchphrases, buzzwords, characters from film, TV and literature, ...Show more
Brewer's Dictionary of Modern Phrase and Fable (2nd ed.) by John Ayto & Ian Crofton
Category: Reference
A fully revised and updated edition of the authentic phrase and fable dictionary for the 21st century, under a new team of editors. The new edition focuses not just on the linguistic and cultural resonance of thousands of contemporary words and phrases (the 'phrase' component), but also on the riches ...Show more
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable by Fr John Ayto
Category: Reference Dictionaries Words | Series: Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable is one of the world's best-loved reference books. First published in 1870, this treasury of 'words that have a story to tell' has established itself as one of the great reference classics—the first port of call for tens of thousands of terms, phrases and proper na ...Show more
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (17th ed.) by Ebenezer Cobham Brewer & John Ayto
Category: Languages and Reference | Series: Brewer's ... Ser.
First published in 1870, Ebenezer Cobham Brewer's treasury of 'words that tell a story' is one of the world's best-loved reference books. At the heart of the dictionary lie entries on the meaning and origin of a vast range of words and expressions, from everyday English phrases to Latin tags. For the 17 ...Show more
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (17th edition 2005) by John Ayto (ed.)
Category: Fiction
A fully revised and updated edition of one of the world's best-loved reference books, bigger and better than ever, and with a creative and imaginative new editor. First published in 1870, Ebenezer Cobham Brewer's treasury of 'words that have a story to tell' is one of the world's best-loved referenc ...Show more
Dictionary of Word Origins - The Histories of More Than 8,000 English-Language Words by John Ayto
Category: Languages and Reference
What is the link between map and apron, acrobat and oxygen, zeal and jealousy, flour and pollen, secret and crime? Did you know that crimson originally comes from the name of tiny scale insects, the kermes, from whose dried bodies a red dyestuff is made? That Yankee began as a nickname for Dutchmen? Tha ...Show more
Encyclopedia of Surnames by John Ayto
Category: Reference
The Encyclopedia of Surnames is not just another dictionary! With entertaining coverage of more than 7,000 surnames listed alphabetically, it provides a complete and accessible companion to tracing the history of names. Written by John Ayto, a respected lexicographer and author of titles such as "Word O ...Show more
Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms by John Ayto
Category: Reference | Series: Oxford Paperback Reference
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 ...Show more
Oxford Dictionary of Idioms by John Ayto
Category: Languages and Reference | Series: Oxford Quick Reference Ser.
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 Eng ...Show more
Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang by John Ayto
Category: Reference Dictionaries Words | Series: Oxford Paperback Reference
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', this is the most authoritative dictionary of slang from the 20th and 21st centuries. The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Sla ...Show more
Oxford School Dictionary of Word Origins. by John Ayto
Category: Children's Educational | Series: UK Bestselling Dictionaries Ser.
This new paperback edition of the Oxford School Dictionary of Word Origins gives an engaging insight into the origins of the everyday language we use. It provides additional language support and information through funny and absorbing word histories, feature entries on especially curious, 'yucky', and ' ...Show more