"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...

"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...

"Vastly informative and vastly entertaining...A scholarly and fascinating book." —Los Angeles Times

With dazzling wit and astonishing insight, Bill Bryson explores the remarkable history, eccentricities, resilience and sheer fun of the English language.

From the first descent of the larynx into the throat (why you can talk but your dog can't), to the fine lost art of swearing, Bryson tells the

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"Simple text paired with themed illustrations invite the reader to learn to speak French"--Provided by publisher.

A wise and entertaining guide to writing English the proper way by one of the greatest newspaper editors of our time.
Harry Evans has edited everything from the urgent files of battlefield reporters to the complex thought processes of Henry Kissinger. He's even been knighted for his services to journalism. In Do I Make Myself Clear?, he brings his indispensable insight to us all in his definite guide to writing well.
The right words...

25 traditional Spanish songs and nursery rhymes. In Spanish.

An introduction to American English and the one thousand most useful words and phrases for speakers of Spanish features dialogues, advice on idioms and vocabulary, and an outline of the most important details of English grammar.

An introduction to the life cycle of a guinea pig from the time a tiny pup is born until, eight months later, it is fully grown and ready to start a family of its own.