English grammar has changed a great deal since the beginning of the Twentieth Century & it is a subject that can provide a complex minefield of uncertainties within the language. This accessible & comprehensive dictionary comes to the aid of both the general reader & the student or teacher offering straightforward & immediate A-Z access to 1 000 grammatical terms & their meanings. All the currently accepted terms of grammar are included as well as older traditional names controversial new coinages & items from the study of other languages. Concise definitions of the wider subject of linguistics including phonetics & transformational grammar are accompanied by examples of language in use & frequent"ations from existing works on grammar. ...

Did you know that flavour of the month originated in a marketing campaign in American ice-cream parlours in the 1940s when a particular flavour would be specially promoted for a month at a time? & did you know that off the cuff refers to the rather messy practice of writing impromptu notes on ones shirt cuff before speaking in public? These & many more idioms are explained & put into context in this third edition of the Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms. The volume takes a fresh look at the idiomatic phrases & sayings that make English the rich & intriguing language that it is. This major new edition contains entries for over 6 000 idioms including 700 entirely new entries based on Oxfords language monitoring & the ongoing third edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. These include a range of recently established idioms such as the elephant in the corner go figure like a rat up a drainpipe sex on legs step up to the plate too posh to push a walk in the park win ugly. This edition also features a greatly increased number of cross-references making it ideal for quick reference. Many entries include additional features which give more detailed background on the idiom in question. For example did you know that taken aback was adopted from nautical terminology that described a ship unable to move forward because of a strong headwind pressing its sails back against the mast? Anyone interested in the colourful side of the English language will get hours of fun browsing from this fascinating & informative volume. ...

This hilarious collection of humorous"ations full of wisecracks & wit snappy comments & inspired fantasy has been specially compiled by the late broadcaster & raconteur Ned Sherrin with a foreword by leading British satirist Alistair Beaton. Now packed with even more"es & covering more subjects than before from Weddings to the Supernatural Headlines to Australia. Find the best lines from your favourite jokesters & wordsmiths add that extra something to a speech or presentation or just enjoy a good laugh. 'A chair is a piece of furniture. I am not a chair because no one has ever sat on me.' Ann Widdecombe on the announcement that Parliamentary language will now be gender-neutral ' No wonder Bob Geldof is such an expert on famine. He's been feeding off 'I don't like Mondays' for 30 years.' Russell Brand On deciding to run for governor of California: ' The most difficult decision I've ever made in my entire life except for the one in 1978 when I decided to get a bikini wax.' Arnold Schwarzenegger ' Wanting to know an author because you like his work is like wanting to know a duck because you like pate.' Margaret Atwood 'I am so sorry. We have to stop there. I have just come to the end of my personality.' Quentin Crisp closing down an interview ...

The best-selling Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms (formerly the Concise dictionary) provides clear concise & often witty definitions of the most troublesome literary terms from abjection to zeugma. It is an essential reference tool for students of literature in any language. It is now available in a new & expanded edition &

Includes:: increased coverage of new terms from modern critical & theoretical movements such as feminism & schools of American poetry Spanish verse forms life writing & crime fiction. It

Includes:: extensive coverage of traditional drama versification rhetoric & literary history as well as updated & extended advice on recommended further reading & a pronunciation guide to more than 200 terms. New to this edition are recommended entry-level web links updated via the Dictionary of Literary Terms companion website.



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Printed music & writing about music involve the use of complex systems of notation & a wealth of technical terms in several languages. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Musical Terms provides clear succinct definitions of a comprehensive range of the musical terms in English & other European languages that are likely to be encountered in Western music. Over 2 500 A-Z entries range across a spectrum of subjects among them: rhythm metre forms genres pitch scales chords harmony & counterpoint notational systems composition & analysis performance practice tempo expression musical periods artistic movements computer applications acoustics & many more. Entries provide etymologies & are fully cross-referenced. Some are illustrated with music examples & tables. An appendix lists all composers mentioned in the Dictionary with their dates. It is an ideal book for students & teachers of music
- it covers all the terms required in the SMAB musical theory exams
- as well as for professional musicians those learning to play musical instruments & members of choirs & musical groups. It will also be a useful quick reference book for concert-goers CD-collectors & radio listeners.

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The first edition of the Oxford Dictionary of"ations was published in 1941 & for 70 years this bestselling book has remained unrivalled in its coverage of"ations past & present. The seventh edition is a vast treasury of wit & wisdom spanning the centuries & providing the ultimate answer to the question ' Who said that?' Find that half-remembered line in a browser's paradise of over 20 000"ations comprehensively indexed for ready reference. Whether you lean towards the words of Jane Austen: ' Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure' or the advice of Paris Hilton: ' Dress cute wherever you go. Life is too short to blend in' the Oxford Dictionary of"ations provides a"e for every occasion. Plus to celebrate its 70th birthday the book now comes with a free booklet of misquotations & the fascinating stories behind them. Drawing on Oxford's unrivalled dictionary research programme & unique language monitoring almost 1 000 new"ations have been added to this seventh edition from over 500 authors from Mary Wollstonecraft & Sarah Palin to Herman Hesse & William Hazlitt. These include classic"ations from established names for which new evidence of current usage has been found such as ' The worth of a soul cannot be told' (the African writer & former slave Olaudah Equiano) & ' Work first
- love next' (American writer & feminist Charlotte Perkins Gilman) as well as earlier"ations used by well-known literary authors from around the English-speaking world e.g. the maxim of Confucius for a ruler ' If you desire what is good the people will be good' (quoted by Thoreau) & the view of the Phrygian Stoic philosopher Epictetus that ' Not things but opinions about things trouble men' (cited by Laurence Sterne ) ' When a thing has been said & well said have no scruple: take it & copy it'
- Anatole France

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Oxford Dictionary of"ations by Subject is a collection of over 7 000"ations arranged thematically for easy look-up. Covering nearly 600 subjects this book features a wealth of topics relevant to modern society from Beauty Baseball & Belief to Patriotism The Past & Power. Themes new to this edition include Babies Birthdays Nine-Eleven Retirement Thanks & Toasts."ations have been taken from a vast range of people around the world from ancient times to the present day including philosophers journalists saints comedians poets monarchs singers politicans scientists writers journalists actors & sportsmen. Brief author descriptions are given with every"ation & an index makes it easy to search by author. New to this edition are an increased number of contemporary & motivational"ations to inspire all readers & an enhanced layout to make reading browsing & searching this delightful book easier & more pleasurable than ever. I like my body better since I became a mother. I feel sexier as a result. Halle Berry I just blew my mind. & I blew the worlds mind. Usain Bolt Making money from money should be replaced with making money from making. James Dyson Animals are such agreeable friends
- they ask no questions they pass no criticism. George Eliot Design is not for philosophy
- its for life. Issey Miyake

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Far more than a dry hagiographical account of the lives of saints this entertaining & authoritative dictionary breathes life into its subjects & is as browsable as it is informative. First published in 1978 the Oxford Dictionary of Saints offers more than 1 700 fascinating & informative entries covering the lives cults & artistic associations of saints from around the world from the famous to the obscure the rich to the poor & the academic to the uneducated. From all walks of life & from all periods of history & from around the world the wide varieties of personalities & achievements of the canonized are reflected. An updated introduction explains the steps towards becoming a saint the processes of beatification & canonization. This revised fifth edition

Includes:: appendices containing five maps of pilgrimage sites a list of saints patronages & iconographical emblems & a calendar of principal feasts as well as a new appendix on pilgrimages.

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Authoritative accessible & completely up to date The Oxford Dictionary of Synonyms & Antonyms is an invaluable guide for anyone wanting to build their vocabulary & improve their writing skills. Over 140 000 alternative & opposite words are given with the closest most frequently used synonyms listed first; in addition thousands of real-life examples of usage from the Oxford English Corpus enable the reader to pinpoint the relevant word quickly & easily. Also included are some useful appendices designed to improve your knowledge of the language: a new Wordfinder section offers a selection of thematic lists
- from chemical elements & clothing to phobias & flowers
- & a Common Confusables supplement explains the crucial differences between similar words that are often mixed up.

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Authoritative wide-ranging & unrivalled in its accessibility The Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World is a concise & lucid survey of life in ancient Greece & Rome spanning 776 BC
- AD 180 from the first Olympic games to the death of Marcus Aurelius. An approachable user-friendly abridgement of the highly acclaimed Oxford Classical Dictionary this book offers over 2 500 A-Z entries on aspects of life in the classical world from politics medicine philosophy art & architecture to history myth & religion mathematics & literature with biographical entries on the important individuals
- both real & mythological
- of the period. Appendices include a clear & comprehensive account of money & its value in the classical world; a chronology of events across Greece & the east & Rome & the west; maps; & a two-way quick-reference gazetteer. This invaluable resource for students & teachers of classics & classical civilization is affordable & quick & easy to use as well as being a fascinating guide for anyone interested in learning more about the foundations of Western culture.


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