Wordstruck!: The Fun and Fascination of Language - Brossura

Janssen, Susanna

Brossura

ISBN 10: 0998304808 ISBN 13: 9780998304809

Casa editrice: Lexicon Alley Press, 2016

Riassunto

Welcome to Susanna Janssen’s wondrous world of words. In Wordstruck! you’ll find a wealth of entertaining reflections on language full of humor, imagination, and insight.

Anything goes, from the genius of Shakespeare to the unintentional hilarity of linguistic faux pas; from musings on the bilingual brain to the poignant humor of her “Life in Words”; from translations gone riotously bad to English learners tortured by our mother tongue’s inconstant consonants and sudden vowel movements.

In this fun and fascinating look at language and the cultures that create it, you’ll find a new love for metaphor, a fabulous arsenal of fascinating word origins, a surprising cure for earworms, a joyful romp with everyone’s favorite grammar errors, and a way to spot liars by listening to their words. You’ll learn that color can be a language as foreign as Farsi, and that there are countless words in other languages that don’t exist in English.

You’ll also discover a murder of crows in the tree, a mixed bag of labradoodles by the backyard fence, your friends hanging out in a club called the Ron-Day-Voo, and a late-model Nissan Moco* parked outside. Sacré bleu! Mamma mia! ¡Qué horror! But you can take cheer that the government’s proposed “nuclear suppository” is not going to be built after all.

Join her in this love affair with the lexicon. Please smile, do laugh, and if you cry, it might be at the very last page.

*Moco in Spanish means “mucus; snot”

Su questo libro

Recensione:

"Susanna Janssen is one of the most wordstruck, word besotted word bethumped women riding our planet. Reading Wordstruck!, one basks in the luminous presence of learning dressed up to have fun." -Richard Lederer, author of Anguished English and Amazing Words

"Hang on to your hats and enjoy your ride with Susanna Janssen, an astute observer of people, customs, and language. Janssen's debut gem sparkles with laugh-out-loud humor and shared insights that will delight your imagination and instill in you a sense of, 'I'm so glad I know that now!' Her personality, wit, charm, and fierce intelligence shine into and burst forth from each page." -Richard Gardiner MD, Distinguished Life Fellow, American Psychiatric Association, Author 

"Janssen's crisp, elegant prose leaps off the page. Her skill in weaving humor, etymology, and cultural insights will make her a hit with fans of Lynne Truss and Karen Elizabeth Gordon. Each paragraph has the playful, wry humor of your favorite linguistics professor and the grace of a tango dancer. This gem is not to be missed!" -Jody Gehrman, author of Bombshell and The Truth About Jack

"Facts made fun! I'm wordstruck by Janssen's tell-all truth about lies, time, money, open kimonos, and godly goodbyes. I want a classroom set!" -E.Hale, High School teacher and author of Birthing Orgasms, Time, & Money

"It's hard to imagine 'a gram of prevention becoming worth a kilo of cure' in one's lifetime.'-True, but it's fun to try, aided by Susanna Janssen's light-hearted (but fundamentally serious) and experience-based tour of global culture and language. Pack it in your old kit bag, and smile at her anecdotes, etymologies and wit." -Jonathan Middlebrook, columnist ("It's All Good")

"Susanna Janssen has been writing about language for the Ukiah Daily Journal in California and our readers have come to look forward to her fun plays on words, her personal stories, her travels and mostly, her vast knowledge of our language and how it gives us myriad ways to express ourselves. Get ready to be delighted at what you'll learn. You're in for a treat!" -K.C. Meadows, Editor, Ukiah Daily Journal

"My interest was 'peaked' 'peeked' 'piqued' in the first paragraph of this intelligent, high speed and frequently zany romp through the alternately charming and mind-boggling babel of our language. From personal anecdotes to Shakespeare creations, Susanna has crafted a page-turner." -Laura Fogg, artist and author of Traveling Blind

"What a delightful and insightful book! Susanna Janssen's Wordstruck! unveils fantastic aspects of language, all across the spectrum from the linguistic perspective to the bilingual brain. Your awareness of the significance of words and how the inner and outer worlds are affected by them will certainly increase as you enjoy her reader-friendly and fun style." -Ricardo Stocker, Ph.D. Professor of Communication and author of Our Compassionate Kosmos

"Anyone with an interest in language and culture will enjoy and learn from this book. Wordstruck! presents an amusing, eye-opening, and well-informed array of anecdotes, examples, historical vignettes, and observations about the history, usage, and even the neuropsychology of language." -H. Stephen Straight, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and of Linguistics, Binghamton University of New York

"With wit and wonder Susanna Janssen lures and captures the reader into her world of words in Wordstruck! Her passion for origins, historical context, metaphors and hilarious adventures is infectious from one memorable passage to the next." -Heidi Cusick Dickerson, author of Soul & Spice.

L'autore:

Susanna Janssen is a foreign language educator and newspaper columnist on everything about words, language, and culture. In her life as a writer, speaker, and teacher, she is dedicated to contributing to the linguistic culture of America and advocating for learning a foreign language at any age. She resides in Northern California where magnificent redwood trees, legendary wines, and great friendships are a source of wonder, inspiration, and joy.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Lexicon Alley Press
• Data di pubblicazione: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0998304808
• ISBN 13: 9780998304809
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 348