Have you ever been embarassed by the bons mots that some people toss casually into conversation, or wished that you had a clever retort? "Faux Pas offers insight into hundreds of these phrases that readers will (or might not) want to use in writing or conversation once they know their correct meanings and usage. Entries include both familiar terms and phrases that are new, curious, or even just amusing. Each expression is "translated" and denotes the language of origin, pronunciation, and usefulness. A Pretentiousness Index is included for many expressions to assist you in avoiding inappropriate usage." Whether you are a linguaphile or a professional wordsmith, or just want to impress your friends with a few well-chosen apercus, Philip Gooden's guide can rescue you from potential language land mines and help you to maintain your sangfroid. Full of examples drawn from everyday contexts, Faux Pas will make sure that you don't upset any honchos with your chutzpah.
--This text refers to the
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Learning foreign words has never been so much fun!,
By Daniel Halevi Bloom (bubbie.zadie@gmail.com) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Faux Pas: A No-nonsense Guide to Words and Phrases (Hardcover)
Great book, and an important one in this global village we now live in. One quibble from the American side of the Pond. Most of the context statements are from British papers, and some of the references are hard to understand for us Yankees. Case in point: Gooden cites a piece from the Guardian newspaper in the UK for the Japanese term "hara kiri" (Japanese ritual suicide), and the sentence from the UK paper goes: "Politically, any school remaining bog standard nowawdays in committing hara-kiri." So what does bog standard mean? We need another book guide to Britishisms! In the meantime, this book is no faux pas at all, but a darn good one.
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An approachable and even fun set of insights,
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Faux Pas: A No-nonsense Guide to Words and Phrases (Hardcover)
FAUX PAS? A NO-NONSENSE GUIDE TO WORDS AND PHRASES FROM OTHER LANGUAGES will reach many casual readers as well as English language library holdings, offering an approachable and even fun set of insights into hundreds of phrases readers may want to use in their writings. An A-Z listing of such words and phrases offers definitions, examples, and comments on expressions and relationships between words.
Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch
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Front Cover | Front Flap | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Front Cover | Front Flap | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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