Codes, Ciphers and Secret Writing

Codes, Ciphers and Secret Writing
Author: Martin Gardner
Publisher: Courier Corporation
Total Pages: 100
Release: 1984-01-01
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9780486247618

Explains various methods used in cryptography and presents examples to help readers in breaking secret codes

Illustrated Reverse Dictionary

Illustrated Reverse Dictionary
Author: John Ellison Kahn
Publisher:
Total Pages: 606
Release: 1990
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 9780895779519

The Illustrated Reverse Dictionary is an ingenious word-finder that helps you locate the precise word you want when you know generally what you mean but can't recall the exact term. With an ordinary dictionary, you look up the word to find its meaning. With the Illustrated Reverse Dictionary, you do just the opposite: you look up the meaning to find the word. The Illustrated Reverse Dictionary works like a thesaurus, which gives you words that are similar in meaning, but it does more. You start with an idea, a description of the term you're looking for, and the Illustrated Reverse Dictionary leads you through associated words to the exact one you want. Moreover, each synonym is defined, and you get antonyms (word opposites) and etymologies (word histories), which a thesaurus does not offer. Containing over 400,000 words - in more than 70,000 main entries, with over 130 detailed color illustrations, and more than 160 charts, the Illustrated Reverse Dictionary offers quick and accurate reference.

Historical Semantics - Historical Word-Formation

Historical Semantics - Historical Word-Formation
Author: Jacek Fisiak
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
Total Pages: 625
Release: 2011-06-15
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 3110850176

TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS is a series of books that open new perspectives in our understanding of language. The series publishes state-of-the-art work on core areas of linguistics across theoretical frameworks as well as studies that provide new insights by building bridges to neighbouring fields such as neuroscience and cognitive science. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS considers itself a forum for cutting-edge research based on solid empirical data on language in its various manifestations, including sign languages. It regards linguistic variation in its synchronic and diachronic dimensions as well as in its social contexts as important sources of insight for a better understanding of the design of linguistic systems and the ecology and evolution of language. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS publishes monographs and outstanding dissertations as well as edited volumes, which provide the opportunity to address controversial topics from different empirical and theoretical viewpoints. High quality standards are ensured through anonymous reviewing.

An Outline of English Lexicology

An Outline of English Lexicology
Author: Leonhard Lipka
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2010-11-05
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 3111403165

Outline of English Lexicology: Lexical Structure, Word Semantics and Word Formation.

English Words

English Words
Author: Donka Minkova
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 235
Release: 2009-03-19
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0521882583

A new edition of this textbook discusses the learned vocabulary of English - the words borrowed from the classical languages.

Puzzles and Essays from 'The Exchange'

Puzzles and Essays from 'The Exchange'
Author: Charles R Anderson
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2018-10-24
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 1317956125

Who said that? When did that happen? Where the heck does that thing come from? Was that French, or what? What's that supposed to mean? For 35 years, librarians in the United States and other countries sent puzzles they could not solve locally to “The Exchange,” a column for reference librarians appearing in RQ (and later, RUSQ), the official journal of the Reference and User Services Division of the ALA. Other readers often furnished the answers--sometimes years or even decades later! Puzzles and Essays from “The Exchange” organizes those perplexing questions and answers into a reader-friendly reference format, embellished with essays that appeared in the column over the last fifteen years of its publication. This unique collection of questions and answers that stumped librarians on four continents over a 35-year period comes complete with authoritative bibliographic citations. It also contains an extensive subject, person, and keyword index, providing easy access to the material. Packed with fascinating information, little-known trivia, and hard-to-find facts, Puzzles and Essays from “The Exchange” is a wonderful reference source, answering difficult questions about: the origins of common--and not-so-common-customs, like giving engagement rings, driving on the right or left side of the road, tying yellow ribbons around trees in memory of captives, leg shaving, visits from the “Tooth Fairy,” and much, much more! the origins of words, phrases, and terms that don’t, when taken literally, make much sense the origins of popular sayings--The grass is always greener; The whole nine yards; It ain't over until the fat lady sings; Close but no cigar; Going down the tube; Light at the end of the tunnel; Katy, bar the door; Goodbye, cruel world; etc. the sources of famous quotations--both spurious and real! the sources of poetry fragments and bits of verse that have become part of the popular lexicon hard-to-find biographical information-from George Washington Carver's many uses for the peanut and the sweet potato to the name of Paul Revere's horse to the truth about the “let them eat cake” story attributed to Marie Antoinette trivia and miscellany--how lullabies began; why a yawn is contagious when a sneeze is not; what the names of the monkeys in The Wizard of Oz were; why pigeons bob their heads when they walk; what the vital statistics of the Venus de Milo are; and much more! the history of “The Exchange” itself! Puzzles and Essays from “The Exchange” will also challenge you with a list of so-far unanswered questions, unidentified quotations, and popular sayings whose origins are still generally unknown. Perhaps you’ll be the one to answer the riddles that stumped the editors and readers of “The Exchange!”