Terban, Marvin

Introduces and explains more than 100 expressions which mean something different than the separate words in the group. For example: raise the roof, hold your horses, and carry a tune.

Explains the meaning and origins of over 100 nonsense words that make the English language more colorful including such examples as "flip-flop," "fuzzy-wuzzy," "cancan," and "tutti frutti.".

An alphabetical listing of common figures of speech, along with their definitions and origins.

Explores the plural forms of 100 irregular nouns such as mouse/mice in humorous rhymes and tongue twisters.

A collection of progressively harder to guess palindrome riddles.

A collection of original riddles, each using a homonym as the answer : bizarre-bazaar, knight-night, and similar pairs of words.

Traces the origins of more than 100 eponymous words--words derived from the names of people or places. For example "sandwich" is an eponymous word from the eponym, Earl of Sandwich, the man who invented sandwiches.

An alphabetical guide of more than 15,000 words, with rules and tricks to remember word endings and tricky words, and includes a misspeller's dictionary.

A practical guide to grammar and usage, covering such topics as parts of speech, punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and idioms.

Illustrates and explains over 100 common English idioms, in categories including animals, body parts, and colors.