That Doesn't Mean What You Think It Means
The 150 Most Commonly Misused Words and Their Tangled Histories
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Narrado por:
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Ross Petras
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Kathryn Petras
Acerca de esta escucha
An entertaining and informative guide to the most common 150 words even smart people use incorrectly, along with pithy forays into their fascinating etymologies and tangled histories of use and misuse.
Even the most erudite among us use words like apocryphal, facetious, ironic, meteorite, moot, redundant, and unique incorrectly every day. Don’t be one of them. Using examples of misuse from leading newspapers, prominent public figures and famous writers, among others, language gurus Ross Petras and Kathryn Petras explain how to avoid these perilous pitfalls in the English language. Each entry also includes short histories of how and why these mistake have happened, some of the (often surprisingly nasty) debates about which uses are (and are not) mistakes, and finally, how to use these words correctly … or why to not use them at all. By the end of this book, every literati will be able to confidently, casually, and correctly toss in an “a priori” or a “limns” without hesitation.
©2018 Ross Petras, Kathryn Petras (P)2023 Random House AudioLos oyentes también disfrutaron...
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More satire than history
- De Barbara Kindle Customer en 12-18-15
De: Bill Bryson
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Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue
- The Untold History of English
- De: John McWhorter
- Narrado por: John McWhorter
- Duración: 5 h y 22 m
- Versión completa
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General4 out of 5 stars 4,037
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Narración:4.5 out of 5 stars 3,412
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Historia4 out of 5 stars 3,388
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 Tongue distills hundreds of years of fascinating lore into one lively history.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great for casual linguists
- De Bertie en 01-11-10
De: John McWhorter
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Words on the Move
- Why English Won't - and Can't - Sit Still (Like, Literally)
- De: John McWhorter
- Narrado por: John McWhorter
- Duración: 7 h y 2 m
- Versión completa
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General4.5 out of 5 stars 1,415
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Narración:4.5 out of 5 stars 1,275
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Historia4.5 out of 5 stars 1,267
Words on the Move opens our eyes to the surprising backstories to the words and expressions we use every day. Did you know that silly once meant "blessed"? Or that ought was the original past tense of owe? Or that the suffix -ly in adverbs is actually a remnant of the word like? And have you ever wondered why some people from New Orleans sound as if they come from Brooklyn?
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5 out of 5 stars
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Review By a Fan
- De Margaret en 09-25-16
De: John McWhorter
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The Glamour of Grammar
- De: Roy Peter Clark
- Narrado por: Roy Peter Clark
- Duración: 8 h y 55 m
- Versión completa
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General4 out of 5 stars 59
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Narración:4.5 out of 5 stars 42
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Historia4 out of 5 stars 40
Early in the history of English, glamour and grammar were the same word, linked to enchantment and magical spells. Now grammar brings to mind language bullies and bored-out-of-their-skulls students. Roy Peter Clark, one of America’s most influential writing teachers, wants to change that by putting the glamour back into grammar.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Wasteful
- De ABID en 12-05-13
De: Roy Peter Clark
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The Story of English in 100 Words
- De: David Crystal
- Narrado por: David Crystal
- Duración: 7 h y 56 m
- Versión completa
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General4.5 out of 5 stars 275
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Narración:4.5 out of 5 stars 236
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Historia4.5 out of 5 stars 236
In this unique new history of the world's most ubiquitous language, linguistics expert David Crystal draws on words that best illustrate the huge variety of sources, influences, and events that have helped to shape our vernacular since the first definitively English word was written down in the fifth century ("roe", in case you are wondering). Featuring Latinate and Celtic words, weasel words and nonce-words, ancient words ("loaf") to cutting edge ("twittersphere") and spanning the indispensable words that shape our tongue ("and", "what") to the more fanciful ("fopdoodle"), Crystal takes us along the winding byways of language.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Random but entertaining
- De Sean en 04-01-13
De: David Crystal
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How to Write Short
- Word Craft for Fast Times
- De: Roy Peter Clark
- Narrado por: Roy Peter Clark
- Duración: 5 h y 20 m
- Versión completa
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General4.5 out of 5 stars 82
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Narración:4.5 out of 5 stars 74
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Historia4 out of 5 stars 73
In How to Write Short , Roy Peter Clark turns his attention to the art of painting a thousand pictures with just a few words. Short forms of writing have always existed - from ship logs and telegrams to prayers and haikus. But in this ever-changing Internet age, short-form writing has become an essential skill. Clark covers how to write effective and powerful titles, headlines, essays, sales pitches, Tweets, letters, and even self-descriptions for online dating services.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Ironically long
- De Amazon Customer en 03-14-16
De: Roy Peter Clark
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The Curmudgeon's Guide to Getting Ahead
- Dos and Don'ts of Right Behavior, Tough Thinking, Clear Writing, and Living a Good Life
- De: Charles Murray
- Narrado por: Charles Murray
- Duración: 3 h y 9 m
- Versión completa
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General4 out of 5 stars 737
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Narración:4.5 out of 5 stars 633
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Historia4 out of 5 stars 629
Best-selling social historian Charles Murray has written a delightfully fussy - and entertaining - book on the hidden rules of the road in the workplace - and in life - from the standpoint of an admonishing, but encouraging, workplace grouch and taskmaster. Why the curmudgeon? The fact is that most older, more senior people in the workplace are closet curmudgeons. In today's politically correct world, they may hide their displeasure over your misuse of grammar or your overly familiar use of their first name without an express invitation. But don't be fooled by their pleasant demeanor....
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4 out of 5 stars
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Good Book: From one curmudgeon to another
- De DaWoolf en 05-22-14
De: Charles Murray
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How to Speak and Write Correctly
- De: Joseph Devlin
- Narrado por: Shawn Grisden
- Duración: 4 h y 27 m
- Versión completa
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General4 out of 5 stars 44
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Narración:4.5 out of 5 stars 36
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Historia4.5 out of 5 stars 36
This book has no pretension about it whatever -- it is neither a Manual of Rhetoric, expatiating on the dogmas of style, nor a Grammar full of arbitrary rules and exceptions. It is merely an effort to help ordinary, everyday people to express themselves in ordinary, everyday language, in a proper manner.
De: Joseph Devlin
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The Art of Language Invention
- From Horse-Lords to Dark Elves, the Words Behind World-Building
- De: David J. Peterson
- Narrado por: David J. Peterson
- Duración: 10 h y 26 m
- Versión completa
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General4.5 out of 5 stars 101
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Narración:4.5 out of 5 stars 92
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Historia4.5 out of 5 stars 89
An insider’s tour through the construction of invented languages from the bestselling author and creator of languages for Legendary's Dune, the HBO series Game of Thrones and the Syfy series Defiance.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Great resource, but not conducive to audiobook
- De Ashley T. en 04-18-16
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Crystal Clear Communication
- How to Explain Anything Clearly in Speech or Writing
- De: Gary S Goodman
- Narrado por: Gary S Goodman
- Duración: 4 h y 18 m
- Grabación Original
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General4 out of 5 stars 243
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Narración:4 out of 5 stars 212
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Historia4 out of 5 stars 208
With this program, you'll have the tools, the techniques, and, just as importantly, the unflinching confidence to influence your readers and listeners decisively - both at work and at home.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Largely Sales-Oriented, and Instantly Usable
- De Troy en 01-26-15
De: Gary S Goodman
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The Pun Also Rises
- How the Humble Pun Revolutionized Language, Changed History, and Made Wordplay More Than Some Antics
- De: John Pollack
- Narrado por: Pete Larkin
- Duración: 4 h y 57 m
- Versión completa
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General4 out of 5 stars 61
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Narración:4 out of 5 stars 56
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Historia4 out of 5 stars 54
The Pun Also Rises is an authoritative yet playful exploration of a practice that is common, in one form or another, to virtually every language on earth. At once entertaining and educational, this engaging book answers fundamental questions: Just what is a pun, and why do people make them? How did punning impact the development of human language, and how did that drive creativity and progress? And why, after centuries of decline, does the pun still matter?
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3 out of 5 stars
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Punderful Little Book
- De B. Lane en 01-10-13
De: John Pollack
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Language Intelligence
- Lessons on Persuasion from Jesus, Shakespeare, Lincoln, and Lady Gaga
- De: Joseph J. Romm
- Narrado por: Drew Birdseye
- Duración: 4 h y 19 m
- Versión completa
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General4.5 out of 5 stars 74
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Narración:4.5 out of 5 stars 62
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Historia4.5 out of 5 stars 64
Joseph Romm, one of Rolling Stone magazine’s top "100 Agents of Change", has focused his talents on helping us all to increase our language intelligence and to better understand the art of persuasion. Romm demonstrates that you don't have to be an expert to vastly improve your ability to communicate. He has pulled together the secrets of the greatest communicators in history to show how you can apply these tools to your writing, speaking, blogging - even your Tweeting.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Liberal Propaganda
- De Craig en 02-05-13
De: Joseph J. Romm
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You Say Potato: A Book About Accents
- De: Ben Crystal, David Crystal
- Narrado por: David Crystal, Ben Crystal, Jane Savage, y otros
- Duración: 7 h y 5 m
- Versión completa
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General4.5 out of 5 stars 76
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Narración:5 out of 5 stars 71
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Historia4.5 out of 5 stars 70
Some people say 'sconn' while others say 'schown'. He says 'bath' while she says 'bahth'. You say 'potayto'. I say 'potahto'. And - wait a second, no one says 'potahto'. No one's ever said 'potahto'. Have they? From reconstructing Shakespeare's accent to the rise and fall of received pronunciation, actor Ben Crystal and his linguist father, David, travel the world in search of the stories of spoken English.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Wish there were more native recordings.
- De Matt Dobler en 07-01-16
De: Ben Crystal, y otros
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The Hunting of the Snark
- De: Lewis Carroll
- Narrado por: Boris Karloff
- Duración: 22 m
- Versión completa
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General4.5 out of 5 stars 39
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Narración:4.5 out of 5 stars 34
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Historia4.5 out of 5 stars 34
But what is a Snark? "Humpty Dumpty's theory, of two meanings packed into one word like a portmanteau, seems to me the right explanation for all." (Lewis Carroll)
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4 out of 5 stars
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Savory & Strange--but Missing a Fit!!!
- De Jefferson en 10-17-10
De: Lewis Carroll
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The Art of Nonfiction
- De: Ayn Rand
- Narrado por: Marguerite Gavin
- Duración: 6 h y 52 m
- Versión completa
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General4 out of 5 stars 149
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Narración:4.5 out of 5 stars 91
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Historia4 out of 5 stars 88
Rand takes listeners step by step through the writing process, providing insightful observations and invaluable techniques along the way. She discusses the psychological aspects of writing and the roles played by the conscious and subconscious mind. She talks about articles and books, explaining how to select a subject and theme, how to identify your audience, and how to write the first draft.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Great Content, but the narrator is annoying
- De Ms en 01-26-09
De: Ayn Rand
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Jewish Comedy
- A Serious History
- De: Jeremy Dauber
- Narrado por: Jeremy Dauber
- Duración: 10 h y 49 m
- Versión completa
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General4 out of 5 stars 178
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Narración:4.5 out of 5 stars 154
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Historia4 out of 5 stars 154
In a major work of scholarship both erudite and very funny, Jeremy Dauber traces the origins of Jewish comedy and its development from Biblical times to the age of Twitter. Organizing his book thematically into what he calls the seven strands of Jewish comedy - including the satirical, the witty, and the vulgar - Dauber explores the ways Jewish comedy has dealt with persecution, assimilation, and diaspora through the ages. He explains the rise and fall of popular comic archetypes such as the Jewish mother, the JAP, and the schlemiel and schlimazel.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Not funny
- De supermantwo en 08-31-20
De: Jeremy Dauber