Andrew Delahunty

This absorbing and accessible A-Z explains the meanings of allusions in modern English, from Adonis to Zorro, Tartarus to Tarzan, and Rubens to Rambo. Fascinating to browse through, the book is based on an extensive reading programme that has identified the most commonly-used allusions. For the third edition all entries have been reviewed, revised, and thoroughly updated to ensure the consistency of coverage of allusions and references. New to this edition is the inclusion within each entry of a short summary definition for the allusion or reference, ideal for quick reference, and at least one illustrative citation from a wide range of source materials in almost every entry: from Aldous Huxley to Philip Roth, Emily Brontë to The Guardian Unlimited. A useful thematic index allows searching for allusions related to a specific topic, e.g. at Intelligence find Aristotle, Einstein, and Spock, and at Hair find Medusa, Samson, and Shirley Temple.

If foreign words and phrases are your "bete noire," here is a superb reference that covers more than 6,000 foreign words and phrases commonly used in English, drawn from some forty languages, from Afrikaans to Turkish. Readers will find clear definitions of words such as "fandango," "futon," "falsetto," "basmati," and many other words that appear in everyday speech as well as in musical direction, the arts, food, medicine, science, literature and belles-lettres. The entries are browsable, but also authoritative, with detailed information on each word or phrase, including any alternative spellings, the date of the word's introduction into English, its language of origin, its definition, and notes on usage and other points of interest. New full-page feature panels provide fascinating extra information on language borrowing, including how specific languages have influenced particular areas of English. This new edition includes up-to-date coverage of words that have entered the English language in the 21st Century, including "bruschetta," "pashmina," and "galactico," and an appendix that lists words by country.