What is the true origin of the phrase 'one fell swoop'? Does the word 'honeymoon' really derive from an old Persian custom of giving the happy couple mead, a honey wine, for the first month after the wedding? The rapid growth of the internet & the use of email has increased the circulation of (usually) false tales about the evolution of language. In this entertaining & fascinating new book on the origins of words & expressions, Michael Quinion retells the mythic tales that have become popular currency
- the word 'posh' deriving from 'port out, starboard home'
- & also tries to find & explain the true stories behind the origins of phrases. Quinion offers explanations of why & how stories about words are created, & how misunderstanding word origins
- while usually harmless
- can have serious consequences.



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The 1:50 000 topographic map gives a more general picture of the ground features than a basic map. It shows settlements, houses, roads, cultivated areas, waterways, cutting areas, mires, rock exposures, & relief. One map sheet covers an area of 30 x 40 km & one centimetre corresponds to 500 metres on the ground. The 1:50, 000 topographic map is also an ideal complement to nautical charts as it provides useful information about the land areas adjacent to waterways. For example, all Finnish sea areas are covered by 1:50 000 topographic map sheets. ...

Posocje in a series of double-sided maps at 1:40, 000 from Kartografija in Ljubljana, accompanied by bilingual guides with descriptions of hiking trails, cycling routes, places of interest, lists of mountain huts, etc. The maps have contours at 20m intervals, enhanced by relief shading & graphics to provide a very effective picture of the topography. Waymarked hiking trails & cycling routes are prominently highlighted & cross-referenced to their descriptions in the accompanying guides. A wide range of symbols provide information on various types of accommodation (rural hotels, motels, farms, mountain huts, campsites), recreational facilities, picturesque locations, etc. For drivers, locations of petrol stations are marked. Each map is double-sided, with a good overlap between the sides, & has latitude & longitude lines at 2’ intervals. The accompanying pocket guides are bilingual, Slovenian/ English, with around 60 to 80 pages. Approx. half are descriptions of places of interest, illustrated by colour photos. Descriptions of hiking routes give timings & the degree of difficulty, as do notes for cycling routes which are also accompanied by route profiles. Also provided is a list of mountain huts. Map legends & all the text include English. ...

Possession is an exhilarating novel of wit & romance, at once a literary detective novel & a triumphant love story. It is the tale of a pair of young scholars investigating the lives of two Victorian poets. Following a trail of letters, journals & poems they uncover a web of passion, deceit & tragedy, & their quest becomes a battle against time. ...

Possession is an exhilarating novel of wit & romance, at once a literary detective novel & a triumphant love story. It is the tale of a pair of young scholars investigating the lives of two Victorian poets. Following a trail of letters, journals & poems they uncover a web of passion, deceit & tragedy, & their quest becomes a battle against time. ...

Patrick O` Brian`s Aubrey-Maturin tales are widely acknowledged to be the greatest series of historical novels ever written. Patrick O` Brian is regarded by many as the greatest historical novelist now writing. Post Captain, the second novel in his remarkable Aubrey/ Maturin series, led Mary Renault to write: ` Master & Commander raised dangerously high expectations; Post Captain triumphantly surpasses them.` This tale begins with Jack Aubrey arriving home from his exploits in the Mediterranean to find England at peace following the Treaty of Amiens. He & his friend Stephen Maturin, surgeon & secret agent, begin to live the lives of country gentlemen, hunting, entertaining & enjoying more amorous adventures. Their comfortable existence, however, is cut short when Jack is overnight reduced to a pauper with enough debts to keep him in prison for life. He flees to the continent to seek refuge: instead he finds himself a hunted fugitive as Napoleon has ordered the internment of all Englishmen in France. Aubrey`s adventures in escaping from France & the debtors` prison will grip the reader as fast as his unequalled actions at sea. ...

The local post office has a special place in the social history of Britain. This book provides an historical overview of the development of this public institution
- from `letter receiving house` to familiar high-street presence. It outlines the range of services post offices have provided over time
- from stamps, pensions & postal orders, to airmail, savings certificates, dog & TV licences. Highlighting the `heyday of the GPO` during the 1930s, 40s & 50s, the author recalls childhood memories of post office counters selling stamps & sweets, the weekly pension queue, & the friendly local postmaster. It constitutes a celebration of a very British institution now threatened by modern-day forces.

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`A Malcolm Gladwell-style social psychology/behavioural economics primer` Evening Standard Low-level dishonesty is rife everywhere, in the form of exaggeration, selective use of facts, economy with the truth, careful drafting
- from Trump & the Brexit debate to companies that tell us `your call is important to us`. How did we get to a place where bullshit is not just rife but apparently so effective that it`s become the communications strategy of our times? This brilliantly insightful book steps inside the panoply of deception employed in all walks of life & assesses how it has come to this. It sets out the surprising logic which explains why bullshit is both pervasive & persistent. Why are company annual reports often nonsense? Why should you not trust estate agents? & above all, why has political campaigning become the art of stretching the truth? Drawing on behavioural science, economics, psychology & of course his knowledge of the media, Evan ends by providing readers with a tool-kit to handle the kinds of deceptions we encounter every day, & charts a route through the muddy waters of the post-truth age.
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Welcome to the Post-Truth era? a time in which the art of the lie is shaking the very foundations of democracy & the world as we know it. The Brexit vote; Donald Trump’s victory; the rejection of climate change science; the vilification of immigrants; all have been based on the power to evoke feelings & not facts. So what does it all mean & how can we champion truth in in a time of lies & ‘alternative facts’? In this eye-opening & timely book, Post-Truth is distinguished from a long tradition of political lies, exaggeration & spin. What is new is not the mendacity of politicians but the public’s response to it & the ability of new technologies & social media to manipulate, polarise & entrench opinion. Where trust has evaporated, conspiracy theories thrive, the authority of the media wilt & emotions matter more than facts. Now, one of the UK’s most respected political journalists, Matthew d’ Ancona investigates how we got here, why quiet resignation is not an option & how we can & must fight back. ...

`A Malcolm Gladwell-style social psychology/behavioural economics primer` Evening Standard Low-level dishonesty is rife everywhere, in the form of exaggeration, selective use of facts, economy with the truth, careful drafting
- from Trump & the Brexit debate to companies that tell us `your call is important to us`. How did we get to a place where bullshit is not just rife but apparently so effective that it`s become the communications strategy of our times? This brilliantly insightful book steps inside the panoply of deception employed in all walks of life & assesses how it has come to this. It sets out the surprising logic which explains why bullshit is both pervasive & persistent. Why are company annual reports often nonsense? Why should you not trust estate agents? & above all, why has political campaigning become the art of stretching the truth? Drawing on behavioural science, economics, psychology & of course his knowledge of the media, Evan ends by providing readers with a tool-kit to handle the kinds of deceptions we encounter every day, & charts a route through the muddy waters of the post-truth age.
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