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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
"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...
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
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
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
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...
Author
Series
Accelerated Reader
IL: LG - BL: 3.9 - AR Pts: 1
Lexile measure
840L
Language
English
Formats
Description
Meet the Tuckabees. They're going on vacation. But not an ordinary vacation. They always choose the wackiest, weirdest destinations for their family trips. This year their stops include visits to the world's largest underwear, a narwhal petting zoo, and the amazing Cheezie Popz factory. No matter where this family goes, they're sure to have tons of fun when they get there. Come along for the ride-and along the way, learn to tell apart they're, their,...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
A funny, erudite, and provocative exploration of puns, the people who make them, and this derided wordplay's remarkable impact on history. The pun is commonly dismissed as the lowest form of wit, and punsters are often unpopular for their obsessive wordplay; but Pollack shows that such attitudes are relatively recent developments. He skillfully weaves together stories and evidence from history, brain science, pop culture, literature, anthropology,...
Author
Series
Accelerated Reader
IL: LG - BL: 2.1 - AR Pts: 1
Lexile measure
350L
Language
English
Formats
Description
Inventors Oscar and Frank know THEIR rivals are up to something. And THEY'RE sure that whatever lies behind the fence, in THERE, is going to give them a run for THEIR money in tomorrow's pancake contest. Illustrated in a graphic-novel-like format, this delightful story pairs with back matter that clearly illustrates when to use the homophones "there," "their," and "they're."
17) The big problem (and the squirrel who eventually solved it): understanding adjectives and adverbs
Author
Series
Accelerated Reader
IL: LG - BL: 3 - AR Pts: 1
Lexile measure
390L
Language
English
Formats
Description
"Introduces adjectives and adverbs as parts of speech through the telling of an original story"--
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...
Author
Series
Accelerated Reader
IL: MG - BL: 4.5 - AR Pts: 1
Language
English
Formats
Description
In a pickle. Apple of my eye. Take the cake. Have you ever heard these crazy expressions? People use them even when no pickles, apples, or cakes are around! That's because these sayings are idioms-phrases that mean something different from what the words in them actually say. But don't let idioms leave you with egg on your face. Let's explore a variety of food-related idioms and figure out what people really mean when they use them.
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