This standard work on punctuation has long been judged the foremost study of the subject. It reveals punctuation to be both an indispensable craft and an invaluable art - a friend not an enemy.
Points out common errors in the way we write and shows us how to correct them. Gives many examples of linguistic abuse, showing how and where to avoid it Provides definitions of terms such as ambiguity, irony, metaphor and jargon Explains complexgrammatical terms such as disguised conjunctions and fused participles Demonstrates how to use punctuation and grammar to ensure clarity Offers constructive advice on the proper use of English
This work looks at the area defined as "cant". It includes the vocabulary of "crooks, criminals, racketeers, beggars, tramps, convicts and the commercial underworld, the drug traffic, the white slave traffic and spivs", gathered from many countries and from obscure sources.
For over fifty years the name of Eric Partridge has been synonymous with slang in the English language. This edition, based on his famous volume, makes it fully relevant to the language of today.
This work is full of things better left unsaid : hackneyed phrases, idioms battered into senselessness, infuriating Gallicisms, once-familiar quotations and tags from the ancient classics. It makes a formidable list, amplified as it is with definitions, sources, and indications of the clichés, venerability in every case.
Explains the origins and meanings of popular phrases
Bound in the publisher's original burgundy quarter cloth and paper over boards, spine stamped in gilt. Light rubbing to edges and extremities of dust jacket. Contributions from Anthony Burgess, Ralph Elliott, Winston Graham, and Randolph Quirk.
Nearly 50,000 entries recall the living speech of a world now largely lost. Often wry and flippant, occasionally "blue", and sometimes uproariously comical, they recapture the rich idiom of English life through the ages.
