Catalog Search Results
Author
Language
English
Description
We all know the basics of punctuation. Or do we? A look at most neighborhood signage tells a different story. Through sloppy usage and low standards on the internet, in email, and now text messages, we have made proper punctuation an endangered species. In Eats, Shoots & Leaves, former editor Lynne Truss dares to say, in her delightfully urbane, witty, and very English way, that it is time to look at our commas and semicolons and see them as the wonderful...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
The Devil's Dictionary (1906) is a work of satire by Ambrose Bierce. Although he is commonly remembered for his chilling short stories on the experiences of Civil War soldiers, Bierce was recognized in his day as a leading journalist and humorist who spent decades ruffling feathers and drawing laughter with his witty opinion columns, poems, and definitions. Toward the end of his career, he decided to compile these satirical definitions into a book,...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
The Hunting of the Snark Lewis Carroll - "The Hunting of the Snark" (An Agony in 8 Fits) is usually thought of as a nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) in 1874, when he was 42 years old. It describes "with infinite humour the impossible voyage of an improbable crew to find an inconceivable creature".
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
"Bill Bryson turns away from the highways and byways of middle America, so hilariously depicted in his bestselling The Lost Continent, for a fast, exhilarating ride along the Route 66 of American language and popular culture. In Made in America, Bryson de-mythologizes his native land - explaining how a dusty desert hamlet with neither woods nor holly became Hollywood, how the Wild West wasn't won, why Americans say 'lootenant' and 'Toosday', how Americans...
7) The witches
Author
Series
Accelerated Reader
IL: MG - BL: 4.7 - AR Pts: 5
Lexile measure
740L
Language
English
Description
This Roald Dahl classic tells the scary, funny and imaginative tale of a seven-year-old boy who has a run-in with some real-life witches! In fairy tales witches always wear silly black hats and black cloaks and they ride on broomsticks. But this is not a fairy tale. This is about REAL WITCHES. REAL WITCHES dress in ordinary clothes and look very much like ordinary women. They live in ordinary houses and they work in ordinary jobs. That is why they...
Author
Language
English
Description
"Written by proud Missourian Taylor Kay Phillips, A Guide to Midwestern Conversation is the definitive handbook on Midwestern mannerisms. Phillips' tongue-in-cheek prose provides a humorous and humanizing look at the culture she calls home. Each section is illustrated with simple-yet-striking graphics by Jovaney Hollingsworth. Together, they provide an engaging, entertaining look at the idiosyncrasies of the Midwest, covering everything from dialect...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
Things Are Against Us is a collection of satirical essays. They treat subjects such as the obstinancy, incorrigibility, and recalcitrance of THINGS, which have a lot to answer for; Laura Ingalls Wilder's unimpressive descriptions of the construction of bobsleds, railways, and complicated dresses, and the astonishing amount of food Almanzo Wilder ate in a day; our efforts to stand on our own two feet, put our best foot forward, remain footloose and...
11) As you like it
Author
Accelerated Reader
IL: UG - BL: 9.2 - AR Pts: 4
Lexile measure
NC 1120L
Language
English
Description
"Readers and audiences have long greeted As You Like It with delight. Its characters are brilliant conversationalists, including the princesses Rosalind and Celia and their Fool, Touchstone. Soon after Rosalind and Orlando meet and fall in love, the princesses and Touchstone go into exile in the Forest of Arden, where they find new conversational partners. Duke Frederick, younger brother to Duke Senior, has overthrown his brother and forced him to...
Author
Pub. Date
2010.
Language
English
Formats
Description
In day-to-day speech we use words and phrases without a passing thought as to why we use them or where they come from. Max Cryer changes all that by showing how fascinating the English language really is. Did you know that the former host of Today, Jane Pauley, claims to have coined the term "bad hair day," or that a CBS engineer named Charley Douglass invented the name and use of "canned laughter" for television, or that "cold turkey" as a...
Author
Language
English
Description
"An unconventional guide to the English language drawn from the cross-country adventures of an itinerant grammarian."--
"When Jovin first walked outside her Manhattan apartment building and set up a folding table with a Grammar Table sign, it took about thirty seconds to get her first visitor. Everyone had a question for her. Jovin soon took it on the road, traveling across the US to answer questions from anyone who uses words in this world. Here...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
From comedian and writer (Parks and Recreation, Eastbound & Down) Harris Wittels comes a hysterical breakdown of boasts, brags, and self-adulation disguised as humble comments and complaints-based on his popular @humblebrag Twitter feed.
Something immediately annoyed Harris Wittels about Twitter. All of a sudden it was acceptable to brag, so long as those brags were ever-so-thinly disguised as transparent humility, such as:
"Just filed my taxes....
Author
Pub. Date
2015.
Language
English
Formats
Description
Finally there's a word for it: Fidgital -excessively checking one's devices. Martyrmony -staying married out of duty. Author of the highly popular “That Should Be a Word” feature in the New York Times Magazine, Lizzie Skurnick delights word lovers with razor-sharp social commentary delivered via clever neologisms. That Should Be a Word is a compendium of 244 of Skurnick's wittiest wordplays-more than half of them new-arranged in ingenious diagrams...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
"Ever wondered what the Mandarin word for platypus translates to? Probably not, but it's "duck mouth beast." And there's more where that came from, thanks to Adam Sharp's Euphemisms That Get on My You-Know-Whats, a collection of fascinating, hilarious, and brilliantly odd lists. This book covers just about everything you never knew you didn't know, from the noises that animals make around the world to titles of movies that sound dirty but aren't-and...
19) Catmas carols
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
Oh, come all ye furful! Cat lovers will rejoice to find this brand-new edition of the top-selling book now available. With 20 rollicking feline renditions of favorite Christmas carols, it's the perfect way to celebrate the holidays. Featuring all-new illustrations and including several new songs, Catmas Carols is full of festive odes to the joys of the season, from yummy dinner scraps and new catnip toys to the ornaments that shine temptingly from...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
Correct grammar and proper spelling can be a challenge, and their absence can be a source of gleeful humor to everyone but the victim of a bad grammar attack. How do you react to sandwich boards, road signs, laminated instructions, and other written missives that are just not exactly what their creator meant? If you've ever (gently) judged anyone else for their linguistic failures, if you find yourself guffawing about the frequent confusion between...
Didn't find it?
Can't find what you are looking for? Try our Materials Request Service. Submit Request