Author:Ambrose Bierce,Ernest Hopkins,John Myers
An incomparable satirist, Ambrose Bierce became the "laughing devil" of the San Francisco news media, for he was about as discreet as a runaway locomotive, according to H.L.Mencken, and nowhere are his uninhibited irony and gift for verse parody more in evidence than in this "dictionary".
The Scots tongue, like most of the world's minority languages, is under pressure and Billy Kay in this excellent and cogent survey draws together the strands of our concern
—— Daily ExpressKay is the best writer on his own language I have read since Burchfield on English; his book should be put in schools, for it is capably seditious
—— The HeraldMoving, delightful, even inspiring
—— Edinburgh ReviewIt is not the kind of dry academic tome so cherished by linguistic nitpickers, but a bright, radical examination of the language which is at the heart of our existence
—— Aberdeen Press and JournalA fresh and invigorating overview of a fascinating subject
—— Stirling ObserverWell written . . . provocative
—— The New York TimesAttuned to pop culture as well as to scholarship, Abley proves a deft social anthropologist
—— The Daily Telegraph