Quirky egg-shaped creatures known as the Hueys explore the concept of opposites.

“Delightful.” —Mary Norris, The New Yorker

A page-turning, existential romp through the life and times of the world’s most polarizing punctuation mark
The semicolon. Stephen King, Hemingway, Vonnegut, and Orwell detest it. Herman Melville, Henry James, and Rebecca Solnit love it. But why? When is it effective? Have we been misusing it? Should we even care?

In Semicolon,

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"Verbs are easier to show than explain! Luckily, this 20th anniversary edition is chock-full of them. Updated design elements, Try It! features, and brand-new back matter make this a must-have for readers learning about verbs"--

This book tells the story of how the English language has developed over the last 15 centuries. Illustrating the compelling history of how the relatively obscure dialects spoken by tribes from what are now Denmark, the Low Countries, and northern Germany became the most widely spoken language in the world, this history also explores how that language evolved during the last two millennia. Chronologically ordered and divided into six main sections...

Introduces the dos and don'ts of English grammar--ranging from punctuation to spelling and sentence construction--using humorous, down-to earth examples.

With dazzling wit and astonishing insight, Bill Bryson—the acclaimed author of The Lost Continent—brilliantly explores the remarkable history, eccentricities, resilience and sheer fun of the English language. From the first descent of the larynx into the throat (why you can talk but your dog can't), to the fine lost art of swearing, Bryson tells the fascinating, often uproarious story of an inadequate, second-rate tongue of peasants

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"This new edition of Writing with Style offers fresh, up-to-date insight into the principles and tools we can all deploy when it comes to expressing ourselves better when we write. The book's leaner, cleaner structure ranges widely--from grammar and punctuation to using numbers and how to edit. Economist language columnist Lane Greene also tackles some of the key linguistic issues we face today, like balancing plain speech with sensitivity, and knowing...

Brief text and lavish illustrations explain verbs.