Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent, packed with useful words and phrases.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Understanding British English (Paperback)
If you need to work with the British or are going there to live or visit, this is the book you've been looking for. It's packed with words from many sources, including not only common British words but military terms, slang, acronyms, common idioms, usage notes and even some gestures. The definitions are to the point and include examples where needed. The author clearly understands English on both sides of the Atlantic. The list of cockney rhyming slang in the appendix is worth the price alone. Buy it and read it from cover to cover.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
No havering here,
By FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (TOP 500 REVIEWER)
This review is from: Understanding British English (Paperback)
Margaret Moore's guide, 'Understanding British English: Bridging the Gap between the English Language and its American Counterpart' is an interesting, dictionary-style work which seeks to explain thousands of phrases which, while using words readily recognised by Americans, have a meaning or assumed context in British English (or other British variants, such as Australian or New Zealand England) that make the meaning quite different.Many people are aware vaguely that there are different words for cigarettes or for falling ill in Britain that would give a quite different connotation. Using the slang terms from Britain would obviously be interpreted in a much different way in America. Moore, in her forward, says that ever since Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown in 1781, the British have had to make up for wounded pride, and that one of the best ways to do this has been poking fun at their former colonists' language while continuing to change their own. While many words are familiar thanks to the relative success of the British mystery novel and various British films and shows (particularly on PBS), there is still a gap, especially of slang and common speech. American audiences will be familiar with boot and bonnet as ends of an automobile, but observe the subtle confusion of the following exchange I observed some years ago: American: I'll call later, then. A very simple divergence of meaning -- Americans are familiar with the phrase 'to call upon' as meaning going somewhere, as opposed to telephoning, but the assumption that 'to call' means to telephone is American; British tend to use 'to ring'. To say, 'I'm bushed' in America would mean 'I'm tired', but in Australian would likely mean 'I'm confused', or even 'I'm lost' (as in, out in the bush). So, don't be cack-handed when using the language, and fall into a caddle. If you want to be sure of what's being said when someone asks you to play Noughts and crosses, asks if you are an OAP, needs to spend a penny, or is doing a real send up to set the Thames on fire, this is the book for you. Moore has included a section on rhyming slang near the back, but as this is such a fluid part of the language, much of it is now dated. However, it is still interesting, and some of the expressions are still all harbour (i.e., all right). Rhyming slang was devised by the Cockney workers to befuddle Irish immigrants. One needs to find a phrase with a concluding word that rhymes with the word you want to use, and then use the first word of the phrase. A subtle and rather ingenious invention, actually. Once again, the context becomes critical, for how is an American (or indeed, even a non-Cockney Briton) to know the context assumed by those using the rhyming slang to know which words have been joined and then substituted? Perhaps rhyming slang could be used as part of military coding? This book represents fascinating linguistic and historical changes in the common language we share with much of the world.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A good reference,
By A Customer
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Understanding British English (Paperback)
Informative, but in dictionary style; don't bother to buy it if you're interested in an entertaining, expanded presentation.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
