http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/?utm_source=rss Books we love Copyright 2013, Thinkmap Inc. All Rights Reserved. en Tue, 11 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT http://www.visualthesaurus.com/images/common/logo_on_white.gif http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/?utm_source=rss Dog Eared http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/how-to-not-write-bad-is-not-bad-at-all?utm_source=rss How to Not Write Bad — by the prolific Ben Yagoda — is an original, amusing, practical take on the writing self-help book. Yagoda points out that most writing book are about writing well, then makes the refreshing observation that writing well is beyond most people. Tue, 11 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EDT http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/how-to-not-write-bad-is-not-bad-at-all Dog Eared http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/trench-talk-a-compelling-look-at-the-words-of-wwi?utm_source=rss Any news event brings new terms and phrases to life while reinvigorating old ones. Look how the recent Presidential election spread malarkey, binders full of women, and bayonets across headlines and tweets. Forevermore, those words will jog the memory of anyone who was paying attention to the 2012 election. Mon, 11 Feb 2013 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/trench-talk-a-compelling-look-at-the-words-of-wwi Dog Eared http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/a-worldly-tour-of-the-oxford-english-dictionary?utm_source=rss Late last year, there was some controversy in the media over a new book by Sarah Ogilvie about the Oxford English Dictionary's historical coverage of foreign words. The controversy turned out to be a tempest in a teapot, overshadowing the worthy book behind it. Here, Mark Peters has an appreciation of Ogilvie's Words of the World. Wed, 23 Jan 2013 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/a-worldly-tour-of-the-oxford-english-dictionary Dog Eared http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/constance-hale-on-those-fertile-phrasals?utm_source=rss Last week we brought you an excerpt from Constance Hale's new book, Vex, Hex, Smash, Smooch: Let Verbs Power Your Writing, focusing on the power of phrasal verbs. In this second part, Hale looks at just how productive those "fertile phrasals" have grown to be. Wed, 28 Nov 2012 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/constance-hale-on-those-fertile-phrasals Dog Eared http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/two-stroke-engines-pair-a-verb-with-a-particle-and-presto?utm_source=rss We're pleased to present another excerpt from Constance Hale's entertaining new book, Vex, Hex, Smash, Smooch: Let Verbs Power Your Writing. Here she focuses on phrasal verbs, "the verbal combos that join an action word with a tiny preposition or particle to make a whole new meaning." Wed, 21 Nov 2012 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/two-stroke-engines-pair-a-verb-with-a-particle-and-presto Dog Eared http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/a-witty-impressive-quotefest?utm_source=rss Everyone likes puppies, cookies, Batman, and humorous quotations. Therefore, the fourth edition of The Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations, edited by the late Ned Sherrin, should be enjoyed by everyone. This Brit-heavy volume leans closer to the witty than the funny, but it's both a serious reference book and a hall-of-fame bathroom book. Mon, 19 Nov 2012 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/a-witty-impressive-quotefest Dog Eared http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/the-horologicon-a-days-jaunt-through-the-lost-words-of-the-english-language?utm_source=rss The Horologicon ("book of hours") is a reference book. Its author, Mark Forsyth (who writes the Inky Fool blog), says so. But it is a very unusual reference book — the kind you could read from cover to cover in an evening or two, and would, willingly and happily. Thu, 15 Nov 2012 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/the-horologicon-a-days-jaunt-through-the-lost-words-of-the-english-language Dog Eared http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/vex-hex-smash-smooch-a-new-book-on-the-power-of-verbs?utm_source=rss Constance Hale, author of Sin and Syntax, has an entertaining new book out called Vex, Hex, Smash, Smooch: Let Verbs Power Your Writing. Verbs, she writes, are "vital, vibrant, voluptuous, and, yes, sometimes vexing." In this excerpt, Hale focuses on choosing the right verbs, and avoiding getting confused by "headache verbs." Fri, 19 Oct 2012 00:00:00 EDT http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/vex-hex-smash-smooch-a-new-book-on-the-power-of-verbs Dog Eared http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/julie-colemans-lively-the-life-of-slang?utm_source=rss If you enjoyed Michael Adams' Slang: The People's Poetry, make some room on your shelf for another compelling look at slangology: The Life of Slang by Julie Coleman. Coleman's book is an enjoyable, thorough look at the purposes and particulars of slang that should be required reading, especially for newcomers to the topic. This is a textbook textbook on slang. Tue, 19 Jun 2012 00:00:00 EDT http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/julie-colemans-lively-the-life-of-slang Dog Eared http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/a-proverb-palooza-for-the-recent-ages?utm_source=rss Mark Peters reviews The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs: "When you talk about proverbs, it's hard not to add the adjective old: we tend to think of proverbs as remnants of the bygone days of yore, not the present days of non-yore." Mon, 21 May 2012 00:00:00 EDT http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/dogeared/a-proverb-palooza-for-the-recent-ages