In an increasingly Orwellian world, everyone should be armed with this hilarious, slyly subversive deconstruction of the slippery locutions of spinmeisters from all walks of public life. Doublespeak guru William Lutz (Doublespeak, The New Doublespeak) is uniquely qualified to bring you this supremely funny expos' of the juiciest ways THEY are trying to bamboozle you

A sampling of Doublespeak Defined

Bald n./: hair disadvantaged Men in Japan aren't bald; they're "hair disadvantaged," according to The Japan Economic Journal.

Diet n./:1.nutrional avoidance therapy 2. caloric...

Selling more than 58,000 in its first edition, Beginner's Dictionary of American English Usage has been revised and brought right up-to-date to contain today's 4,000 most commonly used words. Definitions are simple and brief, utilizing only words contained within the dictionary's pages. If you want to learn English as spoken by Americans, this dictionary is for you. It's easy to follow and absolutely indispensable. Each entry offers at least one example sentence, identifies parts of speech, and lists multiple meanings.

With more than 200 new entries, this updated edition boasts almost 2,000 common phrases and colloquial expressions used in contemporary American English. From greetings and good-byes to everyday small talk, each entry is presented in a realistic context. Special attention to the needs of nonnative speakers includes usage restrictions and cautions as well as a phrase-finder index for on-the-spot reference. An essential dictionary for all students of English who want to know the most common expressions in American speech today.

All include:
* A pronunciation guide for every term
* Acronyms, cross-references, and abbreviations
* Appendices with conversion tables; listings of scientific, technical, and mathematical notation; tables of relevant data; and more
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Learn to spell good well

Is there an "e" in "judgment"? When do you "imply" rather than "infer"? The only resource that answers both these questions is "The McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Misspelled and Easily Confused Words." It's the only book that includes commonly misspelled words and a comprehensive usage guide in one handy volume. Featured are 7,000 of the most commonly misspelled words with their incorrect and correct spellings and a guide to demystifying homophones ("cite" vs. "site"), grammatically troublesome words ("can" vs. "may"), and subtly different words ("imply" vs. "infer").

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This new edition of McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions offers complete definitions of more than 12,000 slang and informal expressions from various sources, ranging from golden oldies such as . . . golden oldie, to recent coinages like shizzle (gangsta), jonx (Wall Street), and ping (the Internet). Each entry is followed by examples illustrating how an expression is used in everyday conversation and, where necessary, International...

This book makes American English phrases "duck soup."

101 American English Idioms takes the mystery out of these common U.S. expressions and explains their meanings in context. On the audio CD, native speakers read each of the 101 idioms, so you can hear how American English sounds and practice what you have learned.

What Americans really mean when they say . . .

• Drive someone up a wall--annoy someone greatly
• Raise a stink--protest strongly
• Pull someone's leg--fool someone
• All thumbs--clumsy...