Catalog Search Results
Start the conversation in your choice of over 70 world languages and dialects through courses crafted using conversational methodology. Every self-paced language course introduces the learner to cultural insights and grammatical nuances specific to their language of choice, delivered through native speaker dialogue, and created with each individual learner in mind.
Author
Language
English
Description
This alphabetically arranged reference contains the definitions and Origins of more than 12,500 words and expressions, such as slang words, proverbs, nicknames, and phrases from literature. Also included is a selection of words and phrases that originated in English-speaking countries other than the U.S. and Great Britain. The third edition features approximately 3,500 new entries.
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
"Peter Winceworth, a disaffected Victorian lexicographer, inserts false entries into a dictionary - violating and subverting the dictionary's authority - in an attempt to assert some sense of individual purpose and artistic freedom. In the present day, Mallory, a young overworked and underpaid intern employed by the dictionary's publishing house, is tasked with uncovering these entries before the work is digitised. As the novel progresses and their...
Author
Language
English
Description
"A brash, enlightening, and wildly entertaining feminist look at gendered language and the way it shapes us..."--From dust jacket, front flap.
"The word bitch conjures many images for many people, but it is most often meant to describe an unpleasant woman. Even before its usage to mean a female canine, bitch didn t refer to gender at all it originated as a gender-neutral word meaning genitalia. A perfectly innocuous word devolving into a female insult...
Author
Publisher
The University of Chicago Press
Pub. Date
2019.
Language
English
Description
"The book is for those who take joy in the boundless eccentricities of language. The book's daily entries of obscure words are each linked to a quirk, anecdote, or commemoration that tie them to history."--Provided by publisher.
Author
Series
Word travelers volume 1
Publisher
Sourcebooks eXplore
Pub. Date
2021.
Accelerated Reader
IL: LG - BL: 5.3 - AR Pts: 1
Language
English
Description
Eddie and MJ are suddenly transported to India where they must use their word knowledge to solve a mystery and help their new friend Dev save his school.
Author
Series
Word travelers volume 2
Publisher
Sourcebooks eXplore
Pub. Date
[2021]
Language
English
Description
Eddie and MJ use their awesome enchanted book to journey to Mexico, discover how Mexican culture has influences the English language, learn about local customs, and solve an exciting mystery.
Author
Publisher
Pegasus Books
Pub. Date
2015.
Language
English
Description
Draws on mythology, ancient history, archaeology, the roots of society, technology, and warfare to reveal how the English language is based on original Stone Age language and uncovers the most influential and important words used by humanity's neolithic ancestors.
Author
Pub. Date
2023.
Language
English
Description
"An enlightening linguistic journey through a thousand years of feminist language - and what we can learn from the vivid vocabulary that English once had for women's bodies, experiences, and sexuality. So many of the words that we use to chronicle women's lives feel awkward or alien. Medical terms are scrupulously accurate but antiseptic. Slang and obscenities have shock value, yet they perpetuate taboos. Where are the plain, honest words for women's...
Author
Publisher
Alfred A. Knopf
Pub. Date
2023.
Language
English
Appears on these lists
Description
For the first time ever, this thrilling literary detective story, doubling as a celebration of words, language, people and one of mankind's greatest achievements, unravels the mystery of the contributors from around the world who, for over seventy years, helped to codify the way we read, write and speak.
Author
Series
Word travelers volume 3
Publisher
Sourcebooks eXplore
Pub. Date
[2023]
Language
English
Description
"It's finally time for the class trip! Every year, Ms. Cassatt brings her class to the city art musuem, and best friends Eddie and MJ . . . have been looking forward to this all year. . . This year they'll magically travel to Paris, France, where they'll visit the famous modern art musuem, the Pompidou Center, only to discover that an art thief has returned"--Back cover.
Author
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Pub. Date
2019.
Language
English
Description
Where do our everyday words come from? The bagel you eat for breakfast, the bumf you have to wade through at the office, and the bus that takes you home again: we use these words without thinking about their origins or how their meanings have changed over time. Simon Horobin takes the reader on a journey through a typical day, showing how the words we use to describe routine activities - getting up, going to work, eating meals - have surprisingly...
Author
Publisher
What on Earth Books
Pub. Date
2020.
Language
English
Description
"A stunning non-fiction picture book about the origins of the English Language. You ll be surprised at the global and cultural diversity hidden in the words we use every day! Did you know that English words come from all over the world? And often their meanings have changed over time? Find out about the journeys of a selection of words from the English Language in this amazing visual resource. Each word is paired with a two-page spread illustration,...
Interlibrary Loan Request
Didn't find what you need? Items not owned by Des Moines Public Library can be requested from other libraries to be delivered to your local library for pickup.
Didn't find it?
Can't find what you are looking for? If the item was published recently, submit a purchase suggestion. Submit Request