Informal English : Puncture Ladies, Egg Harbours, Mississippi Marbles, And Other Curious Words And Phrases Of North America
Author: Jeffrey Kacirk
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: $27.00 NZD
: 9780743254939
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: 32.95
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: Jeffrey Kacirk
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: Paperback
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9780743254939
Description
Gleaned from antiquated dictionaries, dialect glossaries, studies of folklore, nautical lexicons, historical writings, letters, novels, and miscellaneous sources, Informal English offers a captivating treasure trove of linguistic oddities that will not only entertain but also shed light on America's colloquial past. Among the gems are:
Surface-coal: cow dung, widely used for fuel in Texas
Bone-orchard: in the Southwest slang for a cemetery
Chawswizzled: "confounded" in Nebraskan idiom. "I'll be chawswizzled!"
Leather-ears: to Cape Cod inhabitants, a person of slow comprehension
Puncture lady: a southwestern expression for a woman who prefers to sit on the sidelines at a dance and gossip rather than dance, often puncturing someone's reputation
Whether the entries are unexpected twists on familiar-sounding expressions or based on curious old customs, this wide-ranging assortment of vernacular Americanisms will amaze and amuse even the most hard-boiled curmudgeon.
