Hardcover / ISBN-13: 9780755365159

Price: £12.99

ON SALE: 10th October 2013

Genre: Language / Linguistics / Historical & Comparative Linguistics

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What are the top one hundred words we use the most? How should anchovy, chastisement and tryst be pronounced? How good are you at spelling the most commonly misspelt words and names? For the answers to these andquestions and much more, sit back and let Richard Anthony Baker take you on a journey through the English language.

Marvel at the richness of what we derive from French and German; bristle at the words banned in the Daily Telegraph; laugh at the officialese of corporate writers; bone up on our use of language from William Shakespeare (and the Bible) in our day-to-day talk; absorb Richard’s master classes on how to win at Scrabble with devastating ease and how to complete cryptic crosswords with impressive alacrity; and test your linguistic agility by trying to answer the five questions which Google puts to job applicants.

Reviews

The pity is that it is so short: we need one of these every year.
The Times
Hugely enjoyable . . . will no dobt fill many a festive stocking this Christmas. Freewheeling and fascinating.
The Stage