Not so long ago, writes Jeremy Paxman, the English were "polite, unexcitable, reserved, and had hot-water bottles instead of a sex-life". Today the end of empire has killed off the Bulldog Breed - "fearless and philistine, safe in taxis and invaluable in shipwrecks" - and transformed the great public schools. Princess Diana was mourned with the effusive emotionalism of an Italian saint. Leader-writers in "The Times" even praise the sexual skills of English lovers ...So what are the defining features of "Englishness"? How can a country of football hooligans have such an astonishingly low murder rate? Does the nation's sense of itself extend to millions of black, Asian and other immigrant Britons? Is it grounded in arrogant, nostalgic fantasy or can it form the basis for building a realistic future within Europe? To answer these crucial questions, Paxman looks for clues in the English language, literature, luke-warm religion and "curiously passionless devotion" to cricket. He explores attitudes to Catholics, th

Deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful, TWILIGHT, NEWMOON, ECLIPSE, BREAKING DAWN and THE SHORT SECOND LIFE OF BREETANNER capture the struggle between defying our instincts andsatisfying our desires. This stunning set makes the perfect giftfor fans of this bestselling vampire love story.

This book provides the right phrase for every situation...everytime. No matter how much you love your job, you will inevitably runinto difficult situations on the job that test your ability to keepyour cool. Written by the author of "Perfect Phrases for Dealingwith Difficult People", this handy reference of ready-to-usephrases will help you avoid disasters, steer clear of stickycircumstances with coworkers, and leave you in control. If you'reasked to give an impromptu presentation or you accidentally send apersonal e-mail to your boss, you'll have the best words for everysituation, including: handling criticism and being heardcriticizing; picking up the ball when someone else has dropped it;getting credit for your project when an associate takes the praise;and deflecting a flirtatious client or coworker. Filled withphrases for every mistake, mix-up, and mishap, this guide will bebecome your best friend in the workplace. There are no difficultsituations...when you have "Perfect Phrases."

Have confidence-comprehensive, with all the words,definitions, and alternatives you need. Get it right-most useful alternative words highlighted. Get there fast-clear layout with colour. Find out more-internet links tell you where to look for more information Go further-with supplement on Microsoft Office Professional 2007: the basice and beyond.

The Collins COBUILD Advanced Dictionary of American English,English/Korean is specially designed for Korean-speaking learnersof English who need the extra support of their native language.This bilingual learner's dictionary provides Korean translationsfor all definitions, senses, examples, and explanatory terms tocomplement the English material and to provide additional supportto the learner when they encounter a difficult word orexpression.

When The Dreams fail to win an important talent contest, anaspiring record producer, Curtis, sees their potential and mouldsthem into the most successful girl group of the 1960s.Soon Curtisrealizes that lead-singer, Deena, has the qualities to become amegastar in her own right. But will his plans for Deena blow apartthe girls’ friendship? Will his recordingbusiness survive?

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

Originally published as two distinct collections, "Depraved andInsulting English" brings to light the language's most offensiveand obscene words--words that have fallen out of today's lexiconbut will no doubt delight, amuse, and in some cases provesurprisingly useful. Who hasn't searched for the right word todescribe a colleague's maschalephidrosis (runaway armpitperspiration) or a boss's pleonexia (insane greed)? And what betterway is there to insult the scombroid landlord (resembling amackerel) or that tumbrel of a brother-in-law (a person who isdrunk to the point of vomiting) than by calling him by his rightfulname? A compact compendium of ingenious words for anyone who's beentongue-tied, flabbergasted, or dumbfounded, "Depraved and InsultingEnglish" supplies the appropriate vocabulary for any occasion. Wordlovers, chronic insulters, berayers, bescumbers, and bespewers needfear no more--finding the correct word to wow your friends orsilence your enemies just got a whole lot easier.

37,000 words, phrases, and meanings Essential information on basic English vocabulary in a popular, slim, pocket-sized book that is easy to carry. Now updated with new words that have entered the language.

Extensive reading improves fluency and there is a real need inthe ELT classroom for motivating, contemporary graded material thatwill instantly appeal to students. "Superman Returns" is based onthe 2006 blockbuster summer movie and will be immediatelyrecognisable to teens of all nationalities.

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.

Prover, sayings, and other expressions are commonly used every day !They're words that are so familiar, however, that their real meanings have been either lost or confused over the years. For instance, who hasn't wished to be "as free ass a bird"?However, our feathered friends are not carefree.In fact, most birds are pretty anxious creatures with a lot of responsibility. When someone says, "One bad apple spoils the barrdl," it means that no mater how good you are, if someone bad enters your group, it's going to be spoiled. While this may not hold true for all people, it does for apples. When an apple starts to rot ,it produces a chemical called ethylene that cfauses the apple to decay. The other apples in the barrdl detect this chemical reaction and begin to produce their own ethylene, causing all the apples to spoil. "All that glitters is not gold."Anyone who has even seen pyrite, or fool's gold, knows this to be true. Has it ever really rained "cats and dogs"?In 1984,during a rainstorm, part of

Looking for the perfect tool for improving your oral chinese language skills？Mandarin from Scratch is it。This easy-to-use book introduces basic structures，Pressing the most essential and practical Chinese phrases and sentences used in daily life。Includes over 400 basic conversational sentences and useful expressions。enabling readers to effortlessly carry on simple conversations with native Chinese speakers after only a short period of study。CD included。Fully Touch ＆Talk enabled。making listening and repetition easy。

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。

This is the entrancingly entertaining yet amazingly effective guide that shows you how to know the meaning of words that you have never seen or heard before, learn the history of words so that they come alive for you, master an invaluable and permanent technique of word-viewing within 30 days. This is the one book that makes you love to learn.

When Ernest Gellner was his early thirties, he took it upon himself to challenge the prevailing philosophical orthodoxy of the day, Linguistic Philosophy. Finding a powerful ally in Bertrand Russell, who provided the foreword for this book, Gellner embarked on the project that was to put him on the intellectual map. Words and Things was the first determined attempt to state the premises and operational rules of the movement. The basic charge was that Linguistic Philosophy was an aberrant, trivializing perversion of good philosophical practice, substituting, in place of honest theorizing and argument, pedantic scrutiny of intrinsically uninteresting detail. When this now-famous critique originally appeared in 1959, it created a scandal, causing a flurry of correspondence in the Times. Words and Things remains the most devastating attack on a conventional wisdom in philosophy to this day.

PETER MARK ROGET （1779--1869） was a British lexicographer and physician. Roger's Thesaurus, a standard reference work for over a century, represents his highly personal view of how the English language reflects the structure of the universe. In some ways, that view is dated today; but the complex structure and breadth of the thesaurus still prove surprisingly helpful to the modern user. Probably the most comprehensive thesaurus on the market. For virtually any word search, it is guaranteed that you can find the most appropriate word with the utmost assurance because of its succinct definition.