Added by: englishcology | Karma: 4552.52 | Fiction literature | 12 December 2008
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The Washington Post called this "a dizzying magic show of a novel, chock-a-block with all the props of Victorian sensation fiction: seances, multiple narrators, a family curse, doubles, a lost notebook, wraiths, and disembodied spirits; a haunted house, awesome mad-doctor machinery, a mausoleum, and ghoulish horrors; a misunderstood scientist, impossible disappearances; the sins of the fathers visited upon their descendants." Winner of the 1996 World Fantasy Award, The Prestige is even better than that, because unlike many Victorians, Priest writes crisp, unencumbered prose. And anyone who's ever thrilled to the arcing electricity in the "It's alive!" scene in Frankenstein will relish the "special effects" by none other than Nikola Tesla.
Do you "know" that posh comes from an acronym meaning "port out, starboard home"? That "the whole nine yards" comes from (pick one) the length of a WWII gunner's belt; the amount of fabric needed to make a kilt; a sarcastic football expression? That Chicago is called "The Windy City" because of the bloviating habits of its politicians, and not the breeze off the lake?
Edited by: Maria - 28 November 2008
Reason: Uploaded picture to ET server, please do it yourself next time, thank you!
In Dramatic Discourse, Vimala Herman argues that drama should be of particular interest to linguists, because of its form and dialogue, but also because its subsequent translation into performance is fertile ground for the current theories emphasizing performativity and performance in language.
Hot English Magazine is dedicated to improving your English the fun and easy way. Hot English is available every month (except August) and is perfect for all levels from pre-intermediate to advanced. It is also very popular with English language teachers because it has so much great material ready to use in class.
Language gives a snub to borders in a way that is denied to any other human invention. There are no controls or checks to prevent words crossing boundaries, there are no duties to be paid when phrases migrate from one culture to another. In the basic and simplest sense of the phrase, language is a free market.
Within the pages of Faux Pas? the foreign expressions are presented: the familiar and the unfamiliar, the useful and the pretentious. Each entry in this book has been given a phonetic indication of pronunciation.
Each entry has also been given a rating on the so-called – or soi-disant – Pretentiousness Index. For many entries it does not apply at all, either because they are ‘technical’ terms (like in camera or ultra vires) or because they are so well-established in English that using them is about as natural as breathing.
Every entry has been illustrated with an example of actual use, sometimes very recent use. The sources are generally what used to be called the broadsheets (The Times, Guardian, Daily Telegraph and Independent in particular). Quite a few examples have been drawn from fiction as well as sources such as the Spectator magazine.
