A more-ishly browsable collection of words and phrases, linguistic quirks, lexical oddities and syntactic surprises. Our langauge is one of delight and curiosity. BUTTERING PARSNIPS, TWOCKING CHAVS is a guided tour of English, exploring the origins of words, their changing meaning, lexical peculiarities, word games and lost words, presented in lists, small passages of narrative text, amusing quotations and nuggets of amazing facts. This must-have compendium shows that words have a matchless power to entertain. Here you will find enough new words and phrases to last a lifetime. Idioms frolic beside cliches, catchphrases, proverbs, eponyms, acronyms, spoonerisms and split infinitives. Text messages cavort alongside business jargon and rap slang to produce a language that is both witty and bizarre, and sometimes frankly outstanding. So whether you're a yuppie or a woopie, a sinbad or dinky, a spod or even a wazzock, these pages will provide endless hours of delight and fascination.

The indispensible guide to choosing a special name for a baby.
Clear, helpful, and easy-to-use, "The Penguin Book of Baby Names" offers thousands of wonderful suggestions for picking the perfect name for your bundle of joy. It includes:
* Separate sections for boys' and girls' names
* More than 5,000 names, from well-loved favorites to something a little different
* The most popular celebrity names
* Top ten names through the centuries
* Facts about the true meanings and stories behind each name

Have you heard the one about the man who walked into a bar? (Ouch!)... Penguin Pocket Jokes is essential (and hilarious) reading for anyone searching for the perfect joke. Whether you want a snappy wisecrack or a longer rib-tickler when making a speech, this easy-to-use guide will provide the perfect witticism.

20 terrifying tales of horror written by such masters of the genre as Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft and Ambrose Bierce. Steel your nerves for encounters with ghouls, werewolves, invisible vampires, screaming skulls, monstrous slugs and, not least of all, the cruelty and murderous nastiness of your fellow-man. Ideal reading for newcomers to the horror story and aficionados alike. A companion volume to 'Classic Horror Stories', 'Classic Ghost Stories', 'Classic Ghost Stories 2' and 'Classic Short Stories'.

This collection contains twenty of the very best supernatural tales from the golden age of the ghost story. It includes classics by some of the most esteemed writers of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, among them Sheridan Le Fanu, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Ambrose Bierce, Washington Irving and M.R. James. Also included are neglected masterpieces of terror by the likes of William Hope Hodgson, Mrs B.M. Croker, Louisa Baldwin and Amyas Northcote. The stories themselves range from the quaintly wistful to the genuinely disturbing and, hopefully, will delight and surprise aficionados of the ghost story and newcomers alike. Each tale comes complete with a brief biography of the author. A companion volume to 'Classic Ghost Stories' and 'Classic Horror Stories'.

This unconventional rites-of-passage debut novel begins on the last evening of the twentieth century and spans a 25-year period in the life of its central character, encompassing along the way life in an English public school, a mysterious stone circle, witchcraft, illegal archaeology, first sex, teen confusion, hedgehogs and sudden death. Adventurous in subject matter, form and language, it has topped charts on sites for new writing. "Stunningly good," "Witty and gripping," "A wonderful piece of writing" (readers' comments).

Title: Two discourses delivered at the New Universalist Chapel in Westminster-Street: one, at the dedication of the chapel, Dec. 29, 1825: the other, on the parable of the unjust steward, Jan. 22, 1826.Author: David PickeringPublisher: Gale, Sabin Americana Description: Based on Joseph Sabin's famed bibliography, Bibliotheca Americana, Sabin Americana, 1500--1926 contains a collection of books, pamphlets, serials and other works about the Americas, from the time of their discovery to the early 1900s. Sabin Americana is rich in original accounts of discovery and exploration, pioneering and westward expansion, the U.S. Civil War and other military actions, Native Americans, slavery and abolition, religious history and more.Sabin Americana offers an up-close perspective on life in the western hemisphere, encompassing the arrival of the Europeans on the shores of North America in the late 15th century to the first decades of the 20th century. Covering a span of over 400 years in North, Central and South America as well as the Caribbean, this collection highlights the society, politics, religious beliefs, culture, contemporary opinions and momentous events of the time. It provides access to documents from an assortment of genres, sermons, political tracts, newspapers, books, pamphlets, maps, legislation, literature and more.Now for the first time, these high-quality digital scans of original works are available via print-on-demand, making them readily accessible to libraries, students, independent scholars, and readers of all ages.++++The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++SourceLibrary: Huntington LibraryDocumentID: SABCP02622500CollectionID: CTRG98-B1929PublicationDate: 18260101SourceBibCitation: Selected Americana from Sabin's Dictionary of books relating to AmericaNotes: "Published by request."Collation: 32 p.; 22 cm

This acclaimed A-Z dictionary is a comprehensive and up-to-date guide to the superstitions, old and new, of the English-speaking world, complete with their origins, meanings and variant forms. It includes just about everything from touching wood, crossing fingers and identifying future lovers to folk remedies, spells and, new for this third edition of the book, modern beliefs relating to the lottery, the computer and the mobile phone. A first-class source book for the historian, folklorist and casual reader alike, it also offers antidotes to some of the most feared taboos. What should you do to avoid seven years' bad luck if you break a mirror? How can you walk safely under a ladder? Which is the correct end to crack open a boiled egg? This book has all the answers.

This carefully selected collection comprises twenty classic short stories on the themes of love and romance. Written by such masters of the form as Thomas Hardy, O. Henry, Anton Chekhov, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Oscar Wilde, these tales have enchanted, engaged and enthralled generations of readers and maintain a seductive and irresistible hold on the romantic imagination today. Each unforgettable story comes complete with an informative and illuminating biography of the author.

20 terrifying tales of horror written by such masters of the genre as Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft and Bram Stoker. Close the curtains, put another log on the fire, and embark on a scary journey into an underworld roamed by murderous Inquisitors, long-dead witches, phantom cars, haunted dolls, werewolves, mummies, zombies and vampires, to name but a few. Ideal reading for newcomers to the horror story and aficionados alike. A companion volume to Classic Ghost Stories and Classic Ghost Stories 2.

Containing twenty classic short stories written by masters of the form, this collection includes unforgettable tales from Maupassant, Chekhov, Hardy and many more great writers. Some, like Saki's 'The Open Window' or Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Diamond as Big as the Ritz', are delightfully mischievous explorations of human foibles; others, like Gogol's 'The Overcoat' or Poe's 'The Fall of the House of Usher' ruminate more darkly upon the enigma of mortal existence. No reader will want to be without these short masterpieces, which come complete with brief biographies of each author.

Containing twenty of the very best supernatural tales from the golden age of the ghost story, this new selection ranges from acknowledged classics by the likes of Sheridan Le Fanu, Edgar Allan Poe and M.R. James to neglected chillers by lesser-known authors, such as Frank Cowper, William Hope Hodgson and Amelia B. Edwards. Newcomers to the genre can absorb themselves in a wide range of stories, from the quaintly comic to the genuinely frightening, while enthusiasts may also find something they have not read before or else rediscover gems they may have forgotten. Each story comes complete with a brief biography of the author. A companion volume to 'Classic Ghost Stories 2' and 'Classic Horror Stories'.