Foyle's Philavery

Foyle's Philavery
Author: Christopher Foyle
Publisher: Larousse Kingfisher Chambers
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2007
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN:
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The word 'philavery' was invented to describe this book - a collection of words chosen simply on the grounds of their aesthetic appeal. Some of these words appeal because of their aptness, some for their obscurity, some for their euphony, and some for their quirkiness.

The Indispensable Dictionary of Unusual Words

The Indispensable Dictionary of Unusual Words
Author: Josefa Heifetz Byrne
Publisher: Skyhorse
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2012-07-01
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 9781616086503
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From aasvogel (the South African vulture) to knurry (full of knots), from melangeur (a machine for making chocolate syrup) to zumbooruk (a small cannon fired from the back of a camel), the words in this book are guaranteed to expand your vocabulary and confound your friends. They may be obscure and even preposterous, but every entry in this eye-opening book has been accepted as a formal or legitimate English word by at least one major dictionary. This dictionary does not claim or attempt to be complete. It is based completely on the editor’s sense of wonder and absurdity. It is educational, yes, but also more fun than any dictionary has a right to be!

The Disappearing Spoon

The Disappearing Spoon
Author: Sam Kean
Publisher: Little, Brown
Total Pages: 333
Release: 2010-07-12
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0316089087
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From New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean comes incredible stories of science, history, finance, mythology, the arts, medicine, and more, as told by the Periodic Table. Why did Gandhi hate iodine (I, 53)? How did radium (Ra, 88) nearly ruin Marie Curie's reputation? And why is gallium (Ga, 31) the go-to element for laboratory pranksters? The Periodic Table is a crowning scientific achievement, but it's also a treasure trove of adventure, betrayal, and obsession. These fascinating tales follow every element on the table as they play out their parts in human history, and in the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them. The Disappearing Spoon masterfully fuses science with the classic lore of invention, investigation, and discovery -- from the Big Bang through the end of time. Though solid at room temperature, gallium is a moldable metal that melts at 84 degrees Fahrenheit. A classic science prank is to mold gallium spoons, serve them with tea, and watch guests recoil as their utensils disappear.

Discourse Processing

Discourse Processing
Author: A. Flammer
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 625
Release: 2000-04-01
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 008086662X
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Research on discourse (or text) processing has only recently come into its own. It builds on the work of text analysis which has a long and distinguished history, but modern developments in psychology (e.g. memory research), artificial intelligence, linguistics and philosophy have contributed to this emergence in the last decade as a lively and promising research area.This book contains 46 selected and edited contributions from the International Symposium held in Fribourg in 1981, and represents a truly international overview of the developments in research on written and oral discourse. The contributions have been grouped according to problem area and not according to methodology, with the intention of focusing on the important issues in the field of discourse processing and of showing how diverse approaches contribute to a better understanding of the problems involved. The main themes are: text structure, coherence, inference, memory processes, attention and control, goal perspectives, and educational implications.