Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
What in the Word?: Wordplay, Word Lore, and Answers to Your Peskiest Questions about Language

What in the Word?: Wordplay, Word Lore, and Answers to Your Peskiest Questions about Language

Elster, Charles Harrington

Paperback

Series: Harvest Original

EtymologyGrammar & StyleWriting Instruction

ISBN10: 0156031973
ISBN13: 9780156031974
Publisher: Collins Reference
Published: Nov 1 2005
Pages: 304
Weight: 0.67
Height: 0.72 Width: 5.34 Depth: 8.00
Language: English
Are you so sure about assure, ensure, and insure? Can you determine whether a knob of butter is equivalent to a lump or a pat or a scosh? Can you say which word in the English language has the most definitions, or who put the H in Jesus H. Christ?

If you can't, be assured that Charles Harrington Elster, author of several well-loved works on language, can--and does in his latest book, a delightfully designed compendium of the most common, interesting, and entertaining conundrums in our language. Drawing upon esoteric sources and his own inimitable expertise, Elster uses a lively question-and-answer format to cover a variety of topics--word and phrase origins, slang, style, usage, punctuation, and pronunciation. Every chapter features original brainteasers, challenging puzzles, and a trove of literary trivia.

Also in

Etymology

View All