Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue
Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue

Author: John McWhorter

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2009-10-27

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 1592404944

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A survey of the quirks and quandaries of the English language, focusing on our strange and wonderful grammar Why do we say “I am reading a catalog” instead of “I read a catalog”? Why do we say “do” at all? Is the way we speak a reflection of our cultural values? Delving into these provocative topics and more, Our Magnificent Bastard Language distills hundreds of years of fascinating lore into one lively history. Covering such turning points as the little-known Celtic and Welsh influences on English, the impact of the Viking raids and the Norman Conquest, and the Germanic invasions that started it all during the fifth century ad, John McWhorter narrates this colorful evolution with vigor. Drawing on revolutionary genetic and linguistic research as well as a cache of remarkable trivia about the origins of English words and syntax patterns, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue ultimately demonstrates the arbitrary, maddening nature of English— and its ironic simplicity due to its role as a streamlined lingua franca during the early formation of Britain. This is the book that language aficionados worldwide have been waiting for (and no, it’s not a sin to end a sentence with a preposition).

One Magnificent Bastard
One Magnificent Bastard

Author: Mark Huffman

Publisher: CreateSpace

Published: 2013-12-10

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 9781492769446

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Bill Weise didn't plan on a career in the United States Marine Corps. He planned to become a lawyer. But life has a funny way of taking you to places you never expect, serving up experiences that change your life and your outlook forever. From his early life in a working class neighborhood in South Philadelphia during the Great Depression to battlefields in Vietnam to the halls of the Pentagon, Bill Weise was guided by core values he gained from his parents, his faith, and his community. Those values he brought to the Marine Corps, as well as a creative mind and a sense of daring that made him a great leader in both war and peace. Throughout his life Bill Weise has been presented with challenges. Some were economic, some were military and some were deeply personal. How he met and overcame these challenges provides a true measure of him as a man. Everything in Bill's life seemed to prepare him for tests. He always pushed himself and demanded the same of others. The story of Bill Weise is an American story. It contains lessons for today's military leaders and inspiration for all.

Magnificent Bastards
Magnificent Bastards

Author: Rich Hall

Publisher: Abacus

Published: 2010-03-04

Total Pages: 162

ISBN-13: 074811873X

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Comic genius Rich Hall introduces a series of magnificent bastards and lost souls in this hilarious collection of tall tales. Meet the man who vacuums bewildered prairie dogs out of their burrows; a frustrated werewolf who roams the streets of Soho getting mistaken for Brian Blessed; a smug carbon-neutral eco-couple; a teenage girl who invites 45,000 MySpace friends to a house party; the author of a business book entitled Highly Successful Secrets to Standing on a Corner Holding Up a Golf Sale Sign and a man whose attempts to teach softball to a group of indolent British advertising executives sparks an international crisis.

One Lucky Bastard
One Lucky Bastard

Author: Roger Moore

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2014-10-21

Total Pages: 293

ISBN-13: 1493015583

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In a career that spans over seven decades, Roger Moore has been at the very heart of Hollywood. Of course, he’s an actor and has starred in films that have made him famous the world over; but he’s also a tremendous prankster, joker and raconteur. Despite the fact that he is well known as one of the nicest guys in the business, on and off the screen he has always been up for some fun. In this fabulous collection of true stories from his stellar career, Moore lifts the lid on the movie business, from Hollywood to Pinewood. One Lucky Bastard features outrageous tales from his own life and career as well as those told to him by a host of stars and filmmakers including, Tony Curtis, Sean Connery, Michael Caine, David Niven, Frank Sinatra, Gregory Peck, John Mills, Peter Sellers, Michael Winner, Cubby Broccoli, and many more. Wonderfully entertaining and laugh-out-loud funny, these extraordinary tales from the world of the movies is vintage Moore at his very best.

Killer Kane
Killer Kane

Author: Andrew R. Finlayson

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2013-10-03

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 0786477016

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The leader of one of the most successful U. S. Marine long range reconnaissance teams during the Vietnam War, Andrew Finlayson recounts his team's experiences in the year leading up to the Tet Offensive of 1968. Using primary sources, such as Marine Corps unit histories and his own weekly letters home, he presents a highly personal account of the dangerous missions conducted by this team of young Marines as they searched for North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong units in such dangerous locales as Elephant Valley, the Enchanted Forest, Charlie Ridge, Happy Valley and the Que Son Mountains. In numerous close contacts with the enemy, the team (code-name Killer Kane) fights for its survival against desperate odds, narrowly escaping death time and again. The book gives vivid descriptions of the life of recon Marines when they are not on patrol, the beauty of the landscape they traverse, and several of the author's Vietnamese friends. It also explains in detail the preparations for, and the conduct of, a successful long range reconnaissance patrol.

Losing the Race
Losing the Race

Author: John H. McWhorter

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 314

ISBN-13: 0684836696

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Explains why "victimhood" is exaggerated and enshrined in African-American families and discusses why these attitudes are destructive to future generations.

The Republic of Thieves
The Republic of Thieves

Author: Scott Lynch

Publisher: Del Rey

Published: 2013-10-08

Total Pages: 692

ISBN-13: 0553905589

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The third book of the suspense-filled, enduringly popular Gentleman Bastard Sequence about a roguish group of conmen, which George R. R. Martin has called “fresh, original, and engrossing . . . gorgeously realized.” “Fast paced, fun, and impossible to put down . . . Locke and company remain among the most engaging protagonists in fantasy.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) ONE OF PASTE’S BEST FANTASY BOOKS OF THE DECADE With the greatest heist of their career gone spectacularly sour, con artist extraordinaire Locke Lamora and his trusted partner, Jean, have barely escaped with their lives. Or at least Jean has. Locke is slowly succumbing to a lethal poison that no alchemist can cure. With the end nearing, Locke’s only hope is to accept a mysterious Bondsmage’s offer: act as a political pawn in the Magi elections, and in exchange be healed. But the lifesaving sorcery promises to rival even the most excruciating death, and Locke refuses. Until the Bondsmage invokes the name of Sabetha, the love of Locke’s life, his equal in skill and wit . . . and now his greatest rival. From his first glimpse of Sabetha as a fellow orphan and thief-in-training, Locke was smitten. But after a tumultuous courtship, she broke away. Now they will reunite in another clash of wills. Faced with his only equal in both love and trickery, Locke must choose whether to fight Sabetha—or woo her. It is a decision on which both of their lives may depend. Don’t miss any of Scott Lynch’s epic fantasy Gentleman Bastard Sequence: THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA • RED SEAS UNDER RED SKIES • THE REPUBLIC OF THIEVES

Nine Nasty Words
Nine Nasty Words

Author: John McWhorter

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2023-10-10

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 0593421388

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The New York Times bestseller now in paperback. One of the preeminent linguists of our time examines the realms of language that are considered shocking and taboo in order to understand what imbues curse words with such power--and why we love them so much. Profanity has always been a deliciously vibrant part of our lexicon, an integral part of being human. In fact, our ability to curse comes from a different part of the brain than other parts of speech--the urgency with which we say "f&*k!" is instead related to the instinct that tells us to flee from danger. Language evolves with time, and so does what we consider profane or unspeakable. Nine Nasty Words is a rollicking examination of profanity, explored from every angle: historical, sociological, political, linguistic. In a particularly coarse moment, when the public discourse is shaped in part by once-shocking words, nothing could be timelier.

Bastard Tongues
Bastard Tongues

Author: Derek Bickerton

Publisher: Macmillan + ORM

Published: 2008-03-04

Total Pages: 282

ISBN-13: 1429930306

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Why Do Isolated Creole Languages Tend to Have Similar Grammatical Structures? Bastard Tongues is an exciting, firsthand story of scientific discovery in an area of research close to the heart of what it means to be human—what language is, how it works, and how it passes from generation to generation, even where historical accidents have made normal transmission almost impossible. The story focuses on languages so low in the pecking order that many people don't regard them as languages at all—Creole languages spoken by descendants of slaves and indentured laborers in plantation colonies all over the world. The story is told by Derek Bickerton, who has spent more than thirty years researching these languages on four continents and developing a controversial theory that explains why they are so similar to one another. A published novelist, Bickerton (once described as "part scholar, part swashbuckling man of action") does not present his findings in the usual dry academic manner. Instead, you become a companion on his journey of discovery. You learn things as he learned them, share his disappointments and triumphs, explore the exotic locales where he worked, and meet the colorful characters he encountered along the way. The result is a unique blend of memoir, travelogue, history, and linguistics primer, appealing to anyone who has ever wondered how languages grow or what it's like to search the world for new knowledge.