Have you ever wondered what phrases such as 'square meal', 'load of old codswallop', 'egg on your face' or 'in the limelight' mean? Where do they come from? Have you ever taken a moment to wonder what we say actually means? The origins of hundreds of common phrases are explained in this irreverent journey through the most fascinating and richest regions of the English language. In a book that takes you all over the world, from nautical origins to food and drink terms, once you have learnt one phrase, you will be eager to learn them all! From the drop of a hat to the bitter end - you'll be surprised and intrigued and you'll never speak English in the same way again. 作者简介： Albert Jack is a writer and researcher in pop culture whose favourite phrase is 'doolally'. He is 39 years old and has two children.

Chinese herbal medicine offers an ancient, radical approach todisease by eliminating the root cause. This book is designed toenable lay readers to diagnose and treat their own ailments, frominfluenza and general malaise to more serious problems such asrheumatism, infertility and even AIDS.

Chat in Mandarin ChInese with the confidence of a native relI the cab driver where you really want him to go Negotiate for the cheapest price on all those gifts you’re bringing home（and on the extra luggage to fit it all）Whether telling the waiter to hold the MSG or just chatting with locals about the weather，our phrase-book helps you to communicate in accurate Mandarin，every time IncIudes an EngIish—Chfnese dictionary of over 2，300 vwords and a CD with a very user—friendly display that turns your MP3 player Into an immediate translator。

The world’s best-seling little dictionaries Have confidence-find all the alternatives and opposites you need。 Get there fast-clear layout now with colour。 Go further-words and lists for crossword-solving。

Illustrated by thousands ofexamples from the Bank of English, the Collins COBUILD ActiveGrammar contains easy-to-understand explanations of the importantpoints of English grammar. Warning notes occur throughout the text,giving learners invaluable help with potential problems in English.Supplements to the text include irregular verb tables, and adetailed glossary of grammatical terms. Ideal for the intermediatelearner of English as a handy reference work, the Collins COBUILDActive Grammar offers in-depth guidance on the key areas of Englishgrammar.

One of the greatest challenges in learning a language is mastering verb conjugations. English Verb Drills makes it easier than ever for you to meet that challenge. It allows you to focus exclusively on building your mastery of verbs without being distracted by other elements of grammar. Combining the features of a workbook and reference manual, this book clearly and systematically explains how the verb system works while providing more than 150 drills for practice. Using this unique title, you will build the confidence you need to use verbs correctly and to be comfortable expressing yourself in speech and writing.

Reading and Writing Chinese has been the standardtext for foreign students and teachers of the Chinese WritingSystem since Tuttle first published it over 20 years ago. This new,completely revised edition offers students a more convenient,efficient, and up-to-date introduction to the writing system.

30 million presentations will be given today. Millions will fail. Millions more will be received with yawns. A rare few will establish the most profound connection, in which presenter and audience understand each other perfectly ... discover common ground ... and, together, decide to act!Presenting to Win: Persuade Your Audience Every Time is about getting those "A-ha!" moments, and the extraordinary success that follows from them. Jerry Weissman shows you how to transform your presentations from dry recitals of facts into compelling stories with a laser-sharp focus on what matters most: what's in it for the audience.These techniques have proven themselves with billions of dollars on the line. Thousands of Weissman's elite clients have already mastered them. Now it's your turn! * Techniques proven in hundreds of IPO road shows How you can convince even the world's toughest audiences * What you must do to tell your story Focus before flow: Identifying your real goals and message * The powe

You don't need a black belt in t'aekkwondo-'the way of the foot and fist'-to master the Korean languge.just open this book,avoid putting your foot in your mouth and talkk your way to the best bulgoti in town. our phrasebooks give you a comprehensive mix of practical and social words and phrases in more than 120languages. Chat with the locals and discover their culture-a guaranteed way to enrich your travel experience.

'Hasta la vista,baby!'is no way to address a Spanish police officer,'Arriba!Arriba!'won't make the taxi go faster and 'Ay,carramba!'won't grab a waiter's attention. Use this book to say what you reaaly mean.

Based on the revolutionary Easily Pronounced Language Systems approach, Say It Right in Russian makes mastering correct Russian pronunciation simple. With Say It Right you'll learn how to use hundreds of Russian words and phrases in everyday conversation. This amazing guide gives you easy-to-read vowel symbols that, when combined with consonants, make pronunciation easy. With Say It Right in Russian you will: Learn more than 500 essential Russian words and phrases Easily create sentences using "Phrasemakers" Get a quick reference to more than 500 word pronunciations in the Say It Right travel dictionary

I thought I spoke Italian but the only thing I could think to describe the Sistine Chapel was 'Mamma mia!' Then I opened my phrasebook and entered a world beyond the Italy I though I knew. Our phrasebooks give you a comprehensive mix of practical and social words and phrases in more than 120 languages. Chat with the locals and discover their culture - a guaranteed way to enrich your travel experience.

501 Grammar and Writing Questions helps students build writing skills and master the rules of grammar and writing to communicate ideas clearly and effectively. This book teaches through questions about the mechanics of capitalization and punctuation, grammar, sentence structure, paragraph development, and essay questions. Utilizing a mix of multiple choice and essay questions, just like what students see on many placement and state assessment tests, this book is a helpful aid for preparing for tests of many kinds. The questions come along with examples of essays that range from poor to superior and explanations that provide a clear understanding of how to write the best essay.

The Oxford English Dictionary is the internationally recognized authority on the evolution of the English language from 1150 to the present day. The Dictionary defines over 500,000 words and traces their usage through 2.5 million illustrative quotations from a wide range of literary and other sources. It is an unsurpassed guide to the meaning, pronunciation, and history of the English language. This new version of the Oxford English Dictionary (Second Edition) on CD-ROM offers unparalleled access to the world's most important reference work for the English language. The text of this version now includes almost 2,000 words and phrases from the OED team's ongoing revision program, as well as the full text of the OED Second Edition, published in 1989, the Oxford English Dictionary Addition Series (Volumes 1-3), published in 1993 and 1997, the Bibliography to the Second Edition, and other ancillary material. Minimum system requirements: PC with 200 MHz Pentium-class processor 32 MB RAM (64

Wendell Jaffe looks great for a dead man! He’s been six feet under for five years ago—until his former insurance agent spots him at a dusty resort bar in Mexico. Now California Fidelity wants its insurance money back. Can P.I. Kinsey Millhone get on the case? Just two months earlier, Jaffe’s widow pocketed $500,000 in insurance benefits after Jaffe went overboard. Was his “pseudocide” a last-ditch effort to do right by his beloved wife? Perhaps. But how would that explain the new woman in Jaffe’s second life? Kinsey is in for the long haul as she delves deeper into the mystery surrounding Jaffe’s life and death…and discovers that, in family matters as in crime, sometimes it's better to reserve judgment… 作者简介： SUE GRAFTON entered the mystery field in 1982 with the publication of 'A' IS FOR ALIBI, which introduced female hard-boiled private investigator, Kinsey Millhone, operating out of the fictional town of Santa Teresa, (a.k.a. Santa Barbara) California. 'B

Third book of The Vampire Chronicles series, following Interview with the Vampire and The Vampire Lestat. This novel is a continuation of the story that ends in a cliffhanger in The Vampire Lestat and explores the rich history and mythology of the origin of the vampires, which dates back to Ancient Egypt.

52,000 words, phrases and meanings.

Updated and expanded edition of this popular dictionary with bilingual CD-ROM. This edition has been enlarged to contain over 2,000 new English words, new study pages, and a 16-page full-colour supplement. The pack also contains a bilingual CD-ROM.

Chinglish offers a humorous and insightful look at misuses of the English language in Chinese street signs, products, and advertising. A long-standing favorite of English speaking tourists and visitors, Chinglish is now quickly becoming a culture relic: in preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the Chinese government is determined to wipe out incorrect English usage.

Compiled from G.L. Apperson's original and painstaking research of nearly three thousand works dating as far back as the twelfth century and earlier, and built upon the foundations of the great Oxford English Dictionary, the Dictionary of Proverbs traces the origins and history of English proverbs and proverbial phrases. The original author has avoided the purely aphoristic and moral, which have little claim to proverbial use, and has codified this notoriously verbal rather than literary form in a way which earned the gratitude of the compilers of the Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs. The proverbs are grouped alphabetically and by subject, with copious cross-references throughout, rendering the dictionary as great a joy to consult as it is to browse through. This new edition includes over 500 new entries covering new examples, such as The customer is always right, There's no such thing as a free lunch, If it ain't broke, don't fix it, Life is too short to stuff a mushroom, and The family that prays togethe