Idiomantics: The Weird and Wonderful World of Popular Phrases

Idiomantics: The Weird and Wonderful World of Popular Phrases
ISBN-10
1408157403
ISBN-13
9781408157404
Category
Language Arts & Disciplines
Pages
256
Language
English
Published
2013-07-31
Publisher
A&C Black
Authors
Philip Gooden, Peter Lewis

Description

Idiomantics is a unique exploration of the world of idiomatic phrases. The very etymology of the word 'idiom' reveals what's so endlessly fascinating about the wide range of colourful phrases we use in everyday speech: their peculiarity. They're peculiar both in the sense of being particular or unique to the culture from which they originate, and in the sense of being downright odd. To cite three random examples - from American English, Dutch and Italian - what on Earth are a snow job, a monkey sandwich story, and Mr Punch's secret? Fascinating and illuminating, Idiomantics explains all... The ideal gift for word buffs and in fact, anyone who enjoys a good yarn, this playful book looks at 12 groups of idioms around the world, looking at subjects such as fun and games, gastronomic delights and the daily grind.

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