Ander Monson

An Essay Daily Reader - Ex-library copy with typical markings. Some water damage - crinkly pages, staining.

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

New Jersey

An Essay Daily Reader

The best of Essay Daily--each a writer in conversation with and about an essay, whatever its variety, contemporary and classic.

How We Speak to One Another

7e27a12a-1111-4d14-83e7-eb101dbeacdd-1

Margalit Fox

Texas

The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code

The Riddle of the Labyrinth is the true story of the quest to solve one of the most mesmerizing linguistic riddles in history and of the three brilliant, obsessed, and ultimately doomed investigators whose combined work would eventually crack the code. An award–winning journalist trained as a linguist, Margalit Fox not only takes readers step-by-step through the forensic process involved in cracking an ancient secret code, she restores one of the primary investigators, Alice Kober, to her rightful place in what is one of the most remarkable intellectual detective stories of all time.

The Riddle of the Labyrinth

6e14429d-fe63-48e8-8713-ca8aa625c4e1-1

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

New York

contains a boatload of things you didnt know about the English language

Word Nerd

Mary Doria Russell

1st book in the series.
Rated 4.1 out of 5 on Goodreads

Maryland

A Novel

The sole survivor of a crew sent to explore a new planet, Jesuit priest Emilio Sandoz discovers an alien civilization that raises questions about the very essence of humanity, an encounter that leads Sandoz to a public inquisition and the destruction of his faith. Reader's Guide included. Reissue. 12,500 first printing.

The Sparrow

a4d65db8-53b0-47a8-bc98-041159cc80c3-1

Melissa Mohr

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

Virginia

A Brief History of Swearing

Almost everyone swears, or worries about not swearing, from the two year-old who has just discovered the power of potty mouth to the grandma who wonders why every other word she hears is obscene. Whether they express anger or exhilaration, are meant to insult or to commend, swear words perform a crucial role in language. But swearing is also a uniquely well-suited lens through which to look at history, offering a fascinating record of what people care about on the deepest levels of a culture--what's divine, what's terrifying, and what's taboo. Holy Sh*t tells the story of two kinds of swearing--obscenities and oaths--from ancient Rome and the Bible to today. With humor and insight, Melissa Mohr takes readers on a journey to discover how "swearing" has come to include both testifying with your hand on the Bible and calling someone a *#$&!* when they cut you off on the highway. She explores obscenities in ancient Rome--which were remarkably similar to our own--and unearths the history of religious oaths in the Middle Ages, when swearing (or not swearing) an oath was often a matter of life and death. Holy Sh*t also explains the advancement of civility and corresponding censorship of language in the 18th century, considers the rise of racial slurs after World War II, examines the physiological effects of swearing (increased heart rate and greater pain tolerance), and answers a question that preoccupies the FCC, the US Senate, and anyone who has recently overheard little kids at a playground: are we swearing more now than people did in the past? A gem of lexicography and cultural history, Holy Sh*t is a serious exploration of obscenity--and it also just might expand your repertoire of words to choose from the next time you shut your finger in the car door.

Holy Sh*t

6a6aa667-2f28-4b66-a357-fd29780b0c59-0

Alaska

The Silent Language 

Strictly Speaking 

Erica Ferencik

Vermont

From the author of The River at Night and Into the Jungle comes a harrowing new thriller set in the unforgiving landscape of the Arctic Circle, as a brilliant linguist struggling to understand the apparent suicide of her twin brother ventures hundreds of miles north to try to communicate with a young girl who has been thawed from the ice alive. Valerie “Val” Chesterfield is a linguist trained in the most esoteric of disciplines: dead Nordic languages. Despite her successful career, she leads a sheltered life and languishes in the shadow of her twin brother, Andy, an accomplished climate scientist stationed on a remote island off Greenland’s barren coast. But Andy is gone: a victim of suicide, having willfully ventured unprotected into 50 degree below zero weather. Val is inconsolable—and disbelieving. She suspects foul play. When Wyatt, Andy’s fellow researcher in the Arctic, discovers a scientific impossibility­—a young girl frozen in the ice who thaws out alive, speaking a language no one understands—Val is his first call. Will she travel to the frozen North to meet this girl, and try to comprehend what she is so passionately trying to communicate? Under the auspices of helping Wyatt interpret the girl’s speech, Val musters every ounce of her courage and journeys to the Artic to solve the mystery of her brother’s death. The moment she steps off the plane, her fear threatens to overwhelm her. The landscape is fierce, and Wyatt, brilliant but difficult, is an enigma. But the girl is special, and Val’s connection with her is profound. Only something is terribly wrong; the child is sick, maybe dying, and the key to saving her lies in discovering the truth about Wyatt’s research. Can his data be trusted? And does it have anything to do with how and why Val’s brother died? With time running out, Val embarks on an incredible frozen odyssey—led by the unlikeliest of guides—to rescue the new family she has found in the most unexpected of places.

Girl in Ice

e25c2ba2-2eff-4d90-87a0-5f9cb9ad2633-1

Noam Chomsky

Michel Foucault

On Human Nature

"Chomsky vs Foucault" deals with current affairs/political science.

The Chomsky-Foucault Debate

006b8b80-19dd-4d1c-8e47-6784e462b499-1

Part history, part travelog. One appendix includes tables of multiple major alphabets. 

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

Arizona

How 26 Letters Shaped the Western World

Praise for Alpha Beta
"This book comes at the perfect moment as we rediscover the importance in early reading of cracking the alphabetic code. The story of how that code came into being is a fascinating one, and Man is the ideal writer to tell it." Times Educational Supplement

"A richly absorbing exploration, from B.C. to PCs, of the evolution of the most fundamental characters of our cultural history, the alphabet we so much take for granted. John Man writes with a compellingly restless curiosity and immediacy. The ever surprising, exotically detailed narrative in his informative book makes it as undryly enjoyable as a successful archaelogical dig of one of Alan Moorehead s colorful histories of African exploration." David Grambs, author of The Describer s Dictionary and The Endangered English Dictionary

"Text that is crisp, taut, and as clear as a bell.... A fascinating story with many a beguiling subplot along the way." New Scientist

"Letter perfect the best histories and mysteries of our ABC s!" Jeff McQuain, author of Never Enough Words and Power Language

Alpha Beta

344b7363-4019-43e8-ad69-8504e3188673-1

#hardcover #dictionary #writingtools #vocabulary #linguistics #english #choosetherightword

Book is in like new condition, no flaws except a little bump on the lower right of the front cover ( see photo ).

"This unique and concise compendium presents the most confused and misused words in the language today - words misused by careless speakers and writers everywhere. It defines, discerns, and distinguishes the finer points of sense and meaning."

Minnesota

The Highly Selective Dictionary for the Extraordinarily Literate

8b4b8724-7c1f-4408-adc2-019d5eb2e59e-1

A. Ross Eckler

Games and Diversions from Word Ways

Word Recreations

ceb524ff-7ce8-4f67-b89d-f395a7c776f9-0

Edward Swick

Florida

Speak, Write, and Understand Basic German in No Time

Order das beste Bier at Oktoberfest! Hitch a ride on der Autobahn! Say "Wilkommen" to your neuen deutschen Freunde!

Learning to sprechen Sie Deutsches is fun--and far easier than you might think. German and English are closely related--you already know viele Phrasen! With this guide, you will make sense of this fascinating language in no time.

This practical, hands-on Buch comes with easy-to-understand lessons, useful exercises, and a CD for pronunciation help. Building on the German language's close relation to English, this all-new edition covers everything from basic introductions to verb conversions. You will learn to:

-Ich möchte ein Berliner, bitte. Order food with ease.
-Wie viel kostet der Käse? Ask how much items cost.
-Der Vater kaufte seinem Sohn ein Fahrrad. Understand direct and indirect objects.
-viel / mehr / am meisten. Use superlatives to communicate more effectively.
-Der Ball wird von dem Mann geschlagen. Know when to use passive voice.

Whether you want to sample das stoutest Lager or converse with your grandparents in their native tongue, you'll soon discover just how easy it is to learn German!

This edition includes completely new material on:

-Rules of spelling and punctuation
-Appropriate language for correspondence in German, including e-mail
-Updated exercises

The Everything Learning German Book

16640a50-5528-42c7-b7d2-a0d5e736c0a1-1

A Linguistic Excursion into the Five Styles of English Usage 

The Five Clocks

#baseball #chatter #linguistics #sports #interviews

How to Talk Baseball hits a home run with fans who enjoy playing, watching, and talking our national game. The fascinating profiles of baseball's most famous stars will delight all aficionados, and the hilarious terms defined here will add pepper to anyone's game-watching.Beginning with a superlative line-up of people who have enriched America's favorite pastime, the first part of the book draws lively portraits of baseball's superstars and super characters, including Pete Rose, Dizzy Dean, Dennis Eckersley, Red Barber, Red Smith, Yogi Berra (It ain't over till it's over), and Casey Stengel. Find out who was the first to say Can he hit, hit with power, run, throw and field?, now the five dimensions of measuring a baseball player; How sweet it is; and Can't anybody here play this game? How to Talk Baseball's illustrated lexicon tells the origin and meaning of baseball's unique language--seventh-inning stretches, southpaws, spitballs, ohfers, hit-and-runs, foot in the bucket, beanballs, circus catches, Baltimore chops--terms indigenous to baseball, brought together in a comprehensive glossary. You'll learn whether a player is a bad-ball hitter, a bench jockey, a bonus baby or a clubhouse lawyer, and how to tell the difference. Even a novice fan can sound like a network sportscaster, describing how ducks on the pond are waiting for their MVP to dial 8 to a shutout. How to Talk Baseball is a fun read and will help readers warm up their vocal cords and get ready to talk their best game.

How to Talk Baseball

5cda46f4-6719-4541-a353-c0de3d6927e6-1

Kansas

Ross Petras

Kathryn Petras

Iowa

A Pronunciation Guide to the 150 Most Commonly Mispronounced Words--And Their Tangled Histories of Misuse

For word nerds and grammar geeks, a witty guide to the most commonly mispronounced words, along with their correct pronunciations and pithy forays into their fascinating etymologies and histories of use and misuse. With wit and good humor, this handy little book not only saves us from sticky linguistic situations but also provides fascinating cocktail-party-ready anecdotes. Entries reveal how to pronounce boatswain like an old salt on the deck of a ship, trompe l'oeil like a bona fide art expert, and haricot vert like a foodie, while arming us with the knowledge of why certain words are correctly pronounced the "slangy" way (they came about before dictionaries), what stalks of grain have to do with pronunciation, and more. With bonus sidebars like "How to Sound like a Seasoned Traveler" and "How to Sound Cultured," readers will be able to speak about foreign foods and places, fashion, philosophy, and literature with authority.

You're Saying It Wrong

0bb87bd6-9c07-4430-ba84-6ca0642efe85-1

California

#paperback #English #grammar #writing #editing #copyediting #reference #education #language #linguistics

From the back cover:

A Student's Grammar of the English Language is a shorter and revised version of A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language, the widely acclaimed definitive grammar of modern English on which the authors worked in collaboration with Geoffrey Leech and Jan Svartvik.

The structure of the parent book has been preserved so that reference to it can easily be made, but this version takes particular account of the needs of students who require depth of treatment and also clear presentation with detailed exemplification. A Student's Grammar of the English Language draws on the most recent research, including new findings not only in grammar but also in the neighbouring fields of semantics, pragmatics, and text linguistics. Discourse features are dealt with throughout, as well as being the theme of a major chapter entitled: 'From Sentence to Text."

The authors are careful to point out those features of grammar which distinguish spoken from written, formal from informal, and British from American English.

A Student's Grammar of the English Language will be a standard work and an indispensable text book for all those who need an advanced and authoritative description of contemporary English.

-----

I donate all money made from these book sales to local non-profits (SE Pennsylvania) that help people facing a wide range of crises. 


Pennsylvania

English

A Student's Grammar of the English Language

Oregon

Over 1500 Phrases Explored and Explained

An editor of "Roget's Thesaurus" has collected more than 1,500 of the world's favorite cliches, categorizing them according to origin and most common meaning.

Cliches

9fbb3a12-c861-4699-8a7c-2361d9883e00-1

#paperback #education #textbook #toefl #linguistics #speaking #university #study #selfhelp #learning 

Foundation

KALLIS' iBT TOEFL Pattern Writing Series simplifies each TOEFL speaking task into a series of simple steps, which ensures that students do not become overwhelmed as they develop their speaking skills. Moreover, our commitment to minimizing instruction and maximizing student practice assures that students have many opportunities to strengthen their speaking skills.
 * The Hacking Strategy shows students how to approach each question type.

 * KALLIS' iBT TOEFL Pattern Writing Series offers a variety of practice questions and quizzes, including:
 * 3 Actual Practices that combine skills developed in earlier chapters.
 * 1 Actual Test that consists of a full-length iBT TOEFL speaking test and a scoring chart.

Visit our website kallisedu.com to access all of the associated recorded content.

KALLIS' IBT TOEFL Pattern Speaking 1

902729c6-9d6f-451a-90ac-ad0e97a45453-1

Wisconsin

Michael Wex

Yiddish Language and Culture in All of Its Moods

From The Three Stooges to Seinfeld, Born to Kvetch is a smart and witty portrait of Yiddish and its relationship to both Jewish culture and American life.

"An earthy romp through the lingua franca of Jews.... This treasure trove of linguistics, sociology, history and folklore offers a fascinating look at how, through the centuries, a unique and enduring language has reflected an equally unique and enduring culture."--Publishers Weekly, starred review

The main spoken language of the Jews for more than 1,000 years, Yiddish offers a comprehensive picture of the mind-set that enabled them to survive a millennium of unrelenting persecution across Europe. Through the idioms, phrases, metaphors, and fascinating history of this wonderful tongue, Michael Wex gives us a moving and inspiring portrait of a people, and a language, in exile.

From tukhes to goy, meshugener to bobe mayse (cok-and-bull story), Born to Kvetch offers a wealth of material, some that has never appeared in English before, on all elements of Yiddish life, including food, nature, divinity, humanity, and even sex.

Born to Kvetch

d44fa5d9-f10d-4562-8c60-96f99846e178-1

#hardcover #nonfiction #humor #writing #language #English #linguistics

Or, the Joy of Text

Alphabetter Juice

7e136b21-7626-4b04-8aa8-0d85177d5baf-1

Browse by categories

Save this search

Ander Monson, Craig Reinbold

How We Speak to One Another

Margalit Fox

The Riddle of the Labyrinth

Michael Powell

Word Nerd

Mary Doria Russell

The Sparrow

Melissa Mohr

Holy Sh*t

Edward T Hall

The Silent Language

Edwin Newman

Strictly Speaking

Erica Ferencik

Girl in Ice

Noam Chomsky; Michel Foucault

The Chomsky-Foucault Debate

John Man

Alpha Beta

Eugene Ehrlich

The Highly Selective Dictionary for the Extraordinarily Literate

A. Ross Eckler

Word Recreations

Edward Swick

The Everything Learning German Book

Martin Joos

The Five Clocks

Mike Whiteford

How to Talk Baseball

Erica Ferencik

Girl in Ice

Ross Petras; Kathryn Petras

You're Saying It Wrong

Mary Doria Russell

The Sparrow

Sidney Greenbaum, Randolph Quirk

A Student's Grammar of the English Language

Betty Kirkpatrick

Cliches

Kallis

KALLIS' IBT TOEFL Pattern Speaking 1

Erica Ferencik

Girl in Ice

Michael Wex

Born to Kvetch

Roy Blount

Alphabetter Juice