Macmillan Dictionary of
Contemporary Phrase & Fable

Edited By Jonathan Law & Alan Isaacs
September 2002
Macmillan
ISBN: 0-333-90637-3
686 pages, Illustrated, 6 x 9 1/4"
$28.50 Paper Original

---

Language defines our culture and life, and rarely has it reflected such bewildering and complex changes as those of the last hundred years. From "beautiful game" to "zombie", this classic reference book explores the origin and meaning of a vast range of words, phrases and events that have come into use in the English language over the past century. Over 8,000 entries cover slang terms; acronyms; idioms; catchphrases; quotations and new expressions, and supply details about the derivation and meaning of words from both sides of the Atlantic, as well as from elsewhere in the English-speaking world. More recent years have seen an explosion of linguistic change associated with new technology, and this is covered in full. And in a century rich in mythology, the dictionary catalogues the happenings and personages that have become our modern "fables", from "Lord Haw-haw" and the "Lewinsky Affair" to "Harry Potter". Backed with a wealth of quotation and anecdote, this book is a major source of information on modern life and culture, and a delight to browse through.

Return to main page of Trans-Atlantic Publications