From A.D. 395 to 404, Claudian was the court poet of the Western Roman Empire, ruled by Honorius. In 399 the eunuch Eutropius, the grand chamberlain and power behind the Eastern Roman throne of Honorius's brother Arcadius, became consul. The poem In Eutropium is Claudian's brill…
A treasury of biting comebacks, insults, and sarcastic quips counsels readers on how to catch others off guard and get desired results.
A treasury of biting comebacks, insults, and sarcastic quips counsels readers on how to catch others off guard and get desired results.
Author Lawrence Dorfman claims: "I love it when someone insults me. That means that I don't have to be nice anymore." In this latest incarnation of his bestselling series, Dorfman is in delicious form, dishing it out without any real consequences. The sharp-witted buyer (and tha…
A treasury of biting comebacks, insults, and sarcastic quips counsels readers on how to catch others off guard and get desired results.
Author Lawrence Dorfman claims: I love it when someone insults me. That means that I don't have to be nice anymore. (Okay, it was really Billy Idol.) In this latest incarnation of his bestselling (using the term loosely) series, Dorfman is in delicious form, dishing it out witho…
Examines the history of African American street rhyming and verbal combat in the insult game called "the dozens."
Following his groundbreaking explorations of the blues and American popular music in Escaping the Delta and How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'n' Roll, Elijah Wald turns his attention to the tradition of African American street rhyming and verbal combat that ruled urban neighborhoo…
"At its simplest, the dozens is a comic concatenation of "yo' mama" jokes. At its most complex, it is a form of social interaction that reaches back to African ceremonial rituals. Whether considered vernacular poetry, verbal dueling, a test of street cool, or just a mess of dirt…
"At its simplest, the dozens is a comic concatenation of "yo' mama" jokes. At its most complex, it is a form of social interaction that reaches back to African ceremonial rituals. Whether considered vernacular poetry, verbal dueling, a test of street cool, or just a mess of dirt…
"At its simplest, the dozens is a comic concatenation of "yo' mama" jokes. At its most complex, it is a form of social interaction that reaches back to African ceremonial rituals. Whether considered vernacular poetry, verbal dueling, a test of street cool, or just a mess of dirt…
"Whether you consider yourself a stickler, a nitpicker, or a rule-breaker in the know, Bad English [may] enlighten, enrage, and perhaps even inspire. Filled with historic and contemporary examples, the book chronicles the long and entertaining history of language mistakes, and f…
"The author of Reading the OED presents an eye-opening look at language "mistakes" and how they came to be accepted as correct-or not. English is a glorious mess of a language, cobbled together from a wide variety of sources and syntaxes, and changing over time with popular usag…
« The author of Reading the OED presents an eye-opening look at language "mistakes" and how they came to be accepted as correct-or not. English is a glorious mess of a language, cobbled together from a wide variety of sources and syntaxes, and changing over time with popular usa…
"The author of Reading the OED presents an eye-opening look at language 'mistakes' and how they came to be accepted as correct--or not. English is a glorious mess of a language, cobbled together from a wide variety of sources and syntaxes, and changing over time with popular usa…
"The author of Reading the OED presents an eye-opening look at language "mistakes" and how they came to be accepted as correct-or not. English is a glorious mess of a language, cobbled together from a wide variety of sources and syntaxes, and changing over time with popular usag…
The author of Reading the OED presents an eye-opening look at language "mistakes" and how they came to be accepted as correct--or not. English is a glorious mess of a language, cobbled together from a wide variety of sources and syntaxes, and changing over time with popular usag…