Social media ... perhaps the most pointless waste of time since the invention of the television. Yet unlike television, you don't just have to sit back and be on the receiving end of useless information and opinions. No, you can broadcast your own banality! Here is a book of the sort of tosh that social media fills our lives with (if we let it) ... and yet ... there is the occasional wise or useful snippet that almost makes you think social media could have some sort of useful contribution to make to life ... if only we could cut out 99% of the 'twats' and 99% of the 'twits' they send out!
The story of Gigi, also known as Djinn, who is being schooled by her father to be a perfect slave and mistress. Running the gamut of unacceptable subject matter from incest to torture, this book abounds with vignettes exploring taboos and their representation in fiction, from the Brothers Grimm to the Marquis de Sade.
This book traces the development of English slang from the earliest records to the latest tweet. It explores why and how slang is used, and traces the development of slang in English-speaking nations around the world. The records of the Old Bailey and machine-searchable newspaper collections provide a wealth of new information about historical slang, while blogs and tweets provide us with a completely new perspective on contemporary slang. Based on inside information from real live slang users as well as the best scholarly sources, this book is guaranteed to teach you some new words that you shouldn't use in polite company. Teachers, politicians, broadcasters, and parents characterize the language of teenagers as sloppy, repetitive, and unintelligent, but these complaints are nothing new. In 1906, an Australian journalist overheard some youths on a street-corner: Things will be bally slow till next pay-day. I've done in nearly all my spond. Here, now; cheese it, or I'll lob one in your lug. Lend us a cigarette. Lend it; oh, no, I don't part. Look out, here's a bobby going to tell us to shove along. What, he wondered, was the world coming to. For the 411, read on ...
Henry Morton Stanley was a cruel imperialist - a bad man of Africa. Or so we think: but as Tim Jeal brilliantly shows, the reality of Stanley's life is yet more extraordinary. Few people know of his dazzling trans-Africa journey, a heart-breaking epic of human endurance which solved virtually every one of the continent's remaining geographical puzzles. With new documentary evidence, Jeal explores the very nature of exploration and reappraises a reputation, in a way that is both moving and truly majestic.
Single Women in Popular Culture demonstrates how single women continue to be figures of profound cultural anxiety. Examining a wide range of popular media forms, this is a timely, insightful and politically engaged book, exploring the ways in which postfeminism limits the representation of single women in popular culture.
From abdabs to zit From pillock (14th century) to couch potato (20th century) From She'll be apples (Australia) to the pits (USA) This new collection brings together some 5,000 contemporary slang expressions originating in all parts of the English-speaking world. It gives clear and concise definitions of each word, supplemented by examples of their use and information about where and when they came into being. This entertaining reference work will be of use to students of English at all levels and a source of fascination to word-lovers throughout the world.
Just when the clamor over "traditional" marriage couldn't get any louder, along comes this groundbreaking book to ask, "What tradition?" In Marriage, a History, historian and marriage expert Stephanie Coontz takes readers from the marital intrigues of ancient Babylon to the torments of Victorian lovers to demonstrate how recent the idea of marrying for love is - and how absurd it would have seemed to most of our ancestors. It was when marriage moved into the emotional sphere in the nineteenth century, she argues, that it suffered as an institution just as it began to thrive as a personal relationship. This enlightening and hugely entertaining book brings intelligence, perspective, and wit to today's marital debate.
Auch wenn "Oxford English" oder "Queen's English" nicht mehr das uneingeschränkte Ideal des deutschen Englisch-Unterrichts ist, bleibt doch in der Schule erlerntes Englisch oft steif und hölzern. Aber Großbritannien ist das Land, in dem der Begriff "Slang" entstanden ist. Man kommt auf Reisen und im persönlichen Umgang mit Briten an der Umgangssprache, auch in ihren derberen Ausprägungen, gar nicht vorbei, wenn man Augen und Ohren auch nur ein wenig offen hält. Da wimmelt es von ungewohnten Vokabeln, witzig-kreativen Metaphern und natürlich unflätigen Ausdrücken aller Art. Und plötzlich wird aus dem scheinbar steifen Briten wahlweise ein cooler Hipster oder auch ein freakiger Zyniker. Die aktuelle 12. Auflage von "British Slang" ist durchgängig überarbeitet und sprachlich auf den allerneuesten Stand gebracht worden. Kauderwelsch Slang verrät die lockeren und flapsigen Ausdrücke der Alltagssprache, die saftigen Flüche, mit denen die Menschen ihrem Ärger Luft machen, die Sprache der Szene und der Straße. Mit Kauderwelsch Slang kann man den landestypischen Humor verstehen, in den Jargon der nächtlichen Großstadt eintauchen, Einheimische beeindrucken und natürlich Leute kennenlernen. Auch Fortgeschrittene können hier noch viel Neues entdecken. Im Register sind etwa 1000 Slang-Begriffe aufgelistet, die in klassischen Wörterbüchern kaum zu finden sind. Kauderwelsch Sprachführer von Reise Know-How: handlich, alltagstauglich, für über 150 Sprachen.
