Burgess Unabridged: A New Dictionary of Words You Have Always Needed (Classic Reprint) - Softcover

Burgess, Gelett

Softcover

ISBN 10: 133056135X ISBN 13: 9781330561355

Publisher: Forgotten Books, 2018

Synopsis

Excerpt from Burgess Unabridged: A New Dictionary of Words You Have Always Needed

Yes, I have written a dictionary. Worcester and Webster are all right in their way, and Stormuth will do very well for Englishmen - but they're not up to date. Mrs. Century's book is a bit better and even old Dr. Standard's Compendium of Useful Information includes my own words, "bromide" and "sulphite." It's good enough for last year, but "Burgess Unabridged"i will give the diction of the year 1915.

For, the fact is, English is a growing language, and we have to let out the tucks so often, that no last seasons model will ever fit it. English isn't like French, which is corseted and gloved and clad and shod and hatted strictly according to the rules of the Immortals. We have no Academy, thank Heaven, to tell what is real English and what isn't. Our Grand Jury is that ubiquitous person, Usage, and we keep him pretty busy at his job. He's a Progressive and what he likes, hell have, in spite of lexicographers, college professors and authors of "His Complete Works." That's the reason why English has ousted Volapük and Esperanto as a world language. It snuggles right down where you live and makes itself at home.

How does English shape itself so comfortably to the body of our thought? With a new wrinkle here and a little more breadth there, with fancy trimmings, new styles, fresh mate rials and a genius for adapting itself to all sorts of wear. Everybody is working at it, tailoring it, fitting it, decorating it. There is no person so humble but that he can suggest an improvement that may easily become the reigning mode.

Slang, I once defined as "The illegitimate sister of Poetry" - but slang is sometimes better than that; it often succeeds in marrying the Kings English, and at that ceremony there are dozens of guests.

About the Publisher

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This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

About this title

Review

Blurbs for "Burgess Unabridged":
" A word book any word lover will love." -- Will Shortz, crossword editor, "New York Times," and puzzlemaster, NPR
" The perfect dictionary for browsing-- the words may be unfamiliar but the things Burgess describes are universally known (and hilarious)." -- Erin McKean, American lexicographer and editor of "Verbatim: The Language Quarterly"

Blurbs for "Burgess Unabridged"
"A word book any word lover will love."--Will Shortz, crossword editor, "New York Times", and puzzlemaster, NPR
"The perfect dictionary for browsing--the words may be unfamiliar but the things Burgess describes are universally known (and hilarious)."--Erin McKean, American lexicographer and editor of "Verbatim: The Language Quarterly"

Blurbs for "Burgess Unabridged":
"A word book any word lover will love."--Will Shortz, crossword editor, "New York Times," and puzzlemaster, NPR
"The perfect dictionary for browsing--the words may be unfamiliar but the things Burgess describes are universally known (and hilarious)."--Erin McKean, American lexicographer and editor of "Verbatim: The Language Quarterly"

About the Author

Frank Gelett Burgess was born in Boston in 1866. After getting a degree from MIT in 1887, he moved to California to teach at U. Cal Berkeley. While there, and later in New York and Paris, he wrote many humorous novels, poems and stories, many of which are still in print, including Goops and How to Be Them, More Goops and How Not to Be Them, and The Purple Cow. Burgess died in 1951 in Carmel, CA.

Edition details

• Publisher: Forgotten Books
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 133056135X
• ISBN 13: 9781330561355
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 144