John Ayto

A lively, authoritative, and up-to-date look at the world of rhyming slang, from its origins in London's 19th-century underworld to the buzzwords of 21st-century popney. Arranged by topic, including Crime, Food and Drink, Illness, Money, Sex, and Sport, this highly readable collection is at once an informative source to the story behind some of our most lively expressions and a browser's delight.

Our longstanding love affair with the undignified bits of our language - the unguarded vocabulary of conversation, the quirky slang of in-groups, the colourful outbursts of lexis in extremis - has assured us a continuing tradition of collecting such words together in dictionaries. Rather than using the alphabetical format favoured by most of these, however, the Oxford Dictionary of Slang takes in turn each area of life and each aspect of the world that generates significant amounts of slang, and builds up a picture of how our off-guard speech has changed down the years. There is also a full alphabetical index. Containing over 10,000 words and phrases, this is the ideal reference for those interested in the more quirky and unofficial words used in the English language. Including surprisingly old words such as booze and guzzle to the most up-to-date words like humongous and lunchbox, this fascinating book is sure to provide a stonking good read for all.

The average contemporary English speaker knows 50,000 words. Yet stripped down to its origins, this apparently huge vocabulary is in reality much smaller, derived from Latin, French and the Germanic languages. It is estimated that every year, 800 neologisms are added to the English language: acronyms (nimby), blended words (motel), and those taken from foreign languages (savoir-faire). Laid out in an A-Z format with detailed cross references, and written in a style that is both authoritative and accessible, Word Origins is a valuable historical guide to the English language.

The Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms offers a fresh look at the idiomatic phrases and sayings that make English the rich language that it is. The third edition contains entries for over 6,000 idioms, including 700 entirely new entries, based on Oxford's language monitoring and the third edition of the Oxford English Dictionary . These include a range of idioms such as "the elephant in the corner," "go figure," "step up to the plate," "a walk in the park," and "win ugly." Many entries include 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? The book lists national variants, so we learn that while in America they say "all over the map," in Britain they say "all over the shop." This edition also features a greatly increased number of cross-references, making it ideal for quick reference. Anyone interested in the colourful side of the English language will have hours of fun browsing this fascinating and informative volume.

Drawing on the unique resources of the Oxford English Dictionary and offering coverage of over 6,000 slang words and expressions from the Cockney 'abaht' to the American term 'zowie', this is the most lively and authoritative dictionary of slang from the 20th and 21st centuries.

Our longstanding love affair with the undignified bits of our language - the unguarded vocabulary of conversation, the quirky slang of in-groups, the colourful outbursts of lexis in extremis - has assured us a continuing tradition of collecting such words together in dictionaries. Rather than using the alphabetical format favoured by most of these, however, the Oxford Dictionary of Slang takes in turn each area of life and each aspect of the world that generates significant amounts of slang, and builds up a picture of how our off-guard speech has changed down the years. There is also a full alphabetical index. Containing over 10,000 words and phrases, this is the ideal reference for those interested in the more quirky and unofficial words used in the English language. Including surprisingly old words such as booze and guzzle to the most up-to-date words like humongous and lunchbox, this fascinating book is sure to provide a stonking good read for all.