A fascinating collection of seasonal words and phrases exploring their origins and the development of meaning over time. By celebrated author on language and linguistics, David Crystal Brings together some 200 personalities from across time includin...

This book is a pioneering exploration of Tyndale's enormous impact on the development of the English language. "Dearly beloved", "say the word", "the powers that be", "for ever and ever" - these familiar phrases and many more were set down in print...

In this ingenious and diverse collection of 366 stories, events and facts about language, David Crystal presents a selection of insights from literary and linguistic writers, poets and global institutions, together with the weird and wonderful creati...

We're all familiar with "a flock of sheep" but what are the collective nouns for racehorses, pigs, zebras or giraffes? Drawing on a range of sources, from fifteenth-century hunting terms to more recent inventions that have now entered the language, t...