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Based on the acclaimed Oxford Companion to the English Language, this is the most compact, authoritative, and up-to-date source of information about the English language. With contributions from more than 130 experts worldwide, the language is viewed from an international perspective, covering Cockney to Creole, Aboriginal English to South Asian English. The historical range of the work is large - Beowulf rubs shoulders with Ebonics, Chaucer sits alongside Chomsky, Latin, and the World Wide Web. Substantial entries are given on key subjects such as American and British differences, computing, etymology, pidgin, poetry, sexism, Shakespeare's language, and slang. Features include pieces on place-names, borrowings from other languages, the evolution of the alphabet, and the story of the expression 'OK'.

This online-only Dictionary of Abbreviations, exclusive to Oxford Reference Online, includes over 100,000 abbreviations and acronyms in alphabetical and numerical order, including the world's airports, airlines, currencies, astronomical signs and symbols, atomic numbers, and stocks codes, as well as computer, country, financial, medical, military, police, publishing, railway, scientific, technical, transportation, and United Nations abbreviations and acronyms, not to mention European food additive numbers!

Based on The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, the principal authority on the origin and development of English words, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Etymology contains a wealth of information about the English language and its history. Find out where the words 'bungalow' and 'assassin' came from, what 'nice' meant in the Middle Ages and much more.

"Anyone who is addicted to the richness of the English language or simply intrigued by the origin and meaning of an idiom like ‘teach your grandmother to suck eggs’ will relish this work" – Library Journal

Did you know that ‘flavour of the month’ originated in a marketing campaign in American ice-cream parlours in the 1940s, when a particular flavour would be specially promoted for a month at a time? And did you know that ‘off the cuff’ refers to the rather messy practice of writing impromptu notes on one's shirt cuff before speaking in public? These and many more idioms are explained and put into context in this third edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Idioms.

The volume takes a fresh look at the idiomatic phrases and sayings that make English the rich and intriguing language that it is. This major new edition contains entries for over 6,000 idioms, including 700 entirely new entries, based on Oxford's language monitoring and the ongoing third edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. These include a range of recently established idioms such as ‘the elephant in the corner’, ‘go figure’, ‘like a rat up a drainpipe’, ‘sex on legs’, ‘step up to the plate’, ‘too posh to push’, ‘a walk in the park’, ‘win ugly’. This edition also features a greatly increased number of cross-references, making it ideal for quick reference.

Many entries include additional features which give more detailed background on the idiom in question. For example, did you know that ‘taken aback’ was adopted from nautical terminology that described a ship unable to move forward because of a strong headwind pressing its sails back against the mast?

This dictionary features the entertaining histories behind hundreds of eponyms, such as bowdlerize (from the censorious Thomas Bowdler), bikini from the atoll, and the Salisbury steak, a dish of hamburger and brown gravy named after James H. Salisbury, an English physician who promoted a diet of ground beef. There are hundreds more - discover to whom we owe the terms hooker, sideburn, zeppelin, the cardigan sweater, pamphlet, robot, and argyle socks.

Over 4,500 entries

‘offers impeccable advice’ - Sally Baker, The Times

This invaluable quick-reference work, based on the latest edition of the renowned Fowler’s Concise Dictionary of Modern English Usage, offers the best available advice on English usage in an accessible quick-reference format. Drawing on the unrivalled resources of Oxford’s English Dictionaries language monitoring programme, it provides clear, practical and up-to-date guidance on questions of grammar, spelling, style, and word choice. Jeremy Butterfield has judiciously revised the text to reflect the usage practices and concerns of the 21^st century.

"Hours of happy browsing for language lovers" – Observer

Drawing on the unique resources of the Oxford English Dictionary and offering coverage of over 6,000 slang words and expressions from the Cockney ‘abaht’ to the American term ‘zowie’, this is the most authoritative dictionary of slang from the 20th and 21st centuries. The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang is a fascinating and entertaining collection, packed with illustrative quotations and providing full details of origins and dates of first printed use. The text contains expressions from around the English-speaking world such as ‘dork’ and ‘cockamamie’ (North America) and ‘giggle-house’ and ‘Jimmy Woodser’ (Australia).

Over 1,600 entries

A straightforward and accessible A-Z guide to the diverse and often complex terminology of English grammar. Includes clear and concise definitions which are enhanced by numerous example sentences, as well as relevant quotations from the scholarly literature of the field.

This second edition is written and edited by Professor Bas Aarts of University College London, writer of the acclaimed Oxford Modern English Grammar. It has been fully revised and updated, with particular attention paid to refreshing the example sentences included within the text. There are over 150 new entries that cover current terminology which has arisen since the publication of the first edition, and there are also new entries on the most important English grammars published since the start of the 20th century. Hundreds of new cross-references enhance the user-friendly nature of the text, and the list of works cited has been thoroughly updated to reflect the current state of the field.

All in all, this Dictionary is an invaluable guide to English grammar for all students and teachers of the subject, as well as all those with an informed interest in the English language.

‘brilliantly arranged … I recommend it without hesitation to all students of the English language and lovers of literature, as well as to pedants, crossword fanatics and those who like to prove people wrong in argument’ – Auberon Waugh, Sunday Telegraph

Over 2,500 entries

This unique and authoritative dictionary covers the most widely used proverbs in English, using the latest research from Oxford Dictionaries to source them. The new edition adds many sayings that have gained currency in recent years, such as ‘better out than in’ and ‘if you can’t be good, be lucky’. Explanations have been added or expanded for hundreds of proverbs, and examples of usage updated. Dictionary of Proverbs is ideal for browsing.

‘ground-breaking’, Writing Magazine

This authoritative dictionary draws on Oxford's unrivalled bank of reference and language resources in order to explore the stories behind names and sayings that can be found in classic literature or today's news. Questions it seeks to answer include: What are Anglo-Saxon attitudes? Who first tried to nail jelly to the wall? When was the Dreamtime? Would you want the Midas touch? Should you worry about grey goo? Answers cover a range of topics, such as classical and other mythologies, history, religion, folk customs, superstitions, science and technology, philosophy, and popular culture.