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1 Burnside Reference- Grammar and Style

The Disheveled Dictionary: A Curious Caper Through Our Sumptuous Lexicon

by Karen Elizab Gordon

The Disheveled Dictionary: A Curious Caper Through Our Sumptuous Lexicon Cover

 

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

"What on earth does lagniappe mean? A sluggard who lies around till noon? A she-wolf of Anapurna? A car that demands heavy pampering?" In fact, none of the above. But one can find this Creole French word delectably defined in THE DISHEVELED DICTIONARY, which does for vocabulary what Gordon's cult classic THE WELL-TEMPERED SENTENCE did for punctuation and THE TRANSITIVE VAMPIRE did for grammar. THE DISHEVELED DICTIONARY takes a voluptuary's approach to language, offering a lavish feast of words and their multiple uses. Favorite characters from Gordon's earlier books appear in cameo, including Yolanta, Jonquil Mapp, cowboys with lingerie, and assorted royal riffraff. With her trademark cache of illustrations and flamboyantly gothic examples, Gordon takes readers on a hedonist's tour of the world of words, where they can check into the Last Judgment Pinball Machine Motel, slip into susurrant silk pajamas at Cafe Frangipane, or plunge into scenes from such literary works as Torpor in the Swing,The Wretch of Lugubria, and Gossamer and the Green Light. Laced with erudite insights and eccentric wit, THE DISHEVELED DICTIONARY is about the music of speech and the sound and sensuality of language, celebrating not only the obsure but also our most beloved and basic words.

Synopsis:

The Disheveled Dictionary takes a voluptuary's approach to language, carousing in a wanton world of words and their multiple and mischievous uses. Favorite characters from earlier books appear in cameo, including Yolanta, Jonquil Mapp, cowboys with lingerie, and assorted royal riffraff, who join in adumbration with the Grim Reaper, a reluctant baba, the contralto Constanza Zermattress, and other inspired creations.

About the Author

Karen Elizabeth Gordon is the author of the classic and comic reference books The Deluxe Transitive Vampire, The New Well-Tempered Sentence, and Torn Wings and Faux Pas. Her wanderlusting fiction includes The Ravenous Muse, The Red Shoes and Other Tattered Tales, and Paris Out of Hand. She lives in Berkeley, California and Paris.

Product Details

ISBN:
9780395689905
Subtitle:
A Curious Caper Through Our Sumptuous Lexicon
Author:
Gordon, Karen Elizabeth
Author:
Gordon, Karen Elizabeth
Publisher:
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Location:
Boston :
Subject:
English language
Subject:
Vocabulary
Subject:
Curiosities & Wonders
Subject:
Style
Copyright:
Edition Description:
Trade Cloth
Series Volume:
104-742
Publication Date:
August 1997
Binding:
Hardback
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Yes
Pages:
176
Dimensions:
7 x 5 x 0.56 in 0.6 lb

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Product details 176 pages Houghton Mifflin Company - English 9780395689905 Reviews:
"Synopsis" by , The Disheveled Dictionary takes a voluptuary's approach to language, carousing in a wanton world of words and their multiple and mischievous uses. Favorite characters from earlier books appear in cameo, including Yolanta, Jonquil Mapp, cowboys with lingerie, and assorted royal riffraff, who join in adumbration with the Grim Reaper, a reluctant baba, the contralto Constanza Zermattress, and other inspired creations.
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