The Pedants Revolt

Download or read book The Pedant's Revolt written by Andrea Barham and published by Bantam. This book was released on 2007-08-28 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pedants, revolt! In this irreverent, smart, obscenely entertaining book, Andrea Barham shatters the myths, misconceptions, fallacies, and falsehoods about all the things you thought you knew (and a few you never considered). Lead pencils can give you lead poisoning.… Newton discovered gravity when an apple fell on his head….One dog year equals seven human years….Marie Antoinette said “Let them eat cake!”…Spelling Christmas “Xmas” is disrespectful….Fact or fiction?The Pedant’s Revolt: Know What Know-It-Alls Knowsets the record straight on everything from the truth about starving a fever to why you shouldn’t “go for the burn.” In chapters literary, medical, grammatical, historical, scientific, and biblical, you’ll discover the facts behind the fallacies that have somehow become accepted wisdom. From insects to food, grooming to Greeks, bumblebees to whales…from the animal kingdom to assassinations, Harpo Marx to Shakespeare, and questionable quotes such as “It’s all Greek to me,” this remarkable book reveals the often surprising origins of the legends and folklore we mistake for the gospel truth—and teaches you to think twice before repeating them.

Download or read book The Pedant's Revolt written by Andrea Barham and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Debunking common misconceptions and myths that have become accepted wisdom, an irreverent and informative trivia handbook sets the record straight on a wide variety of topics, ranging from history and science to the arts, famous quotations, and food. 20,000 first printing.

Download or read book The Pedant's Revolt written by Andrea Barham and published by Michael O'Mara Books. This book was released on 2011-05-20 with total page 163 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This intriguing book sets the record straight, exposing misconceptions that have become entrenched in everyday thought.

Download or read book Stuff Brits Like written by Fraser McAlpine and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2015-07-07 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If you’re looking for the best biscuit to dunk in your tea, the ideal temperature at which to serve real ale or the perfect pasty for your trip to the seaside, you either A) Have been desperately seeking a book exactly like this one or, B) Have secretly become British without realizing it. If you chose A, congratulations, you are an Anglophile! And, if you chose B, don’t panic. With the help of Stuff Brits Like, you will soon discover the joy of these and many more delightful British peculiarities and can develop an upper lip as stiff as any you’ve seen on Downton Abbey. British native Fraser McAlpine set out to do for his countrymen what Stuff Parisians Like did for their neighbors across the channel—offering a guide to their particular tastes and eccentricities with all the cheeky wit you might expect from the people who gave you Noël Coward and Eddie Izzard. You may know to say football instead of soccer and crisps instead of chips. You may even know why taking the piss is more fun and less unsanitary than it sounds. But with Stuff Brits Like, you’ll be ready for the next pub quiz in no time.

Download or read book The Mammoth Book of One-Liners written by Geoff Tibballs and published by Robinson. This book was released on 2012-06-07 with total page 607 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of 10,000 side-splitting one-line jokes arranged in categories from bestselling humour editor Geoff Tibballs. 'Is my wife dissatisfied with my body? A small part of me says yes.' 'Letting the cat out of the bag is a whole lot easier than putting it back in.' 'I read somewhere that 26 is too old to still live with your parents. It was on a note, in my room.'

Download or read book A Little Learning written by Libby Purves and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2007-08-07 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This lively selection brings together journalist and broadcaster Libby Purves’ experiences as journalist, parent, governor and former pupil, displaying her eclectic and provocative opinions and ideas on teaching and learning.

Download or read book The Conisbrough Chronicles written by McMullen Country and published by Troubador Publishing Ltd. This book was released on 2016-11-22 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seen through the eyes of narrators, this parody chronicles and explores the fascinating, eccentric and totally fabricated Conisbrough family dynasty as it progresses over the last thousand years. While the Conisbrough family remain centre stage in this amusing, concocted stroll through our history, other characters and families inevitably interact with the Conisbroughs, often with disastrous consequences. The nearest neighbours of the Conisbrough family are the grotesque Sprot tribe across the river. How will they develop alongside the Conisbrough success story? And mystical elements present themselves in such places as the Isle of Wight, Northern Germany and the then badlands of North Yorkshire. Written in three parts, the story tells you things you never knew about life in the Middle Ages; the court of Elizabeth I; the English Civil War; and the Industrial Revolution, for example– periods populated with often disgusting, greedy, self-serving and unsavoury characters – some of whom you will recognise. The role of women in business and in partnership with their husbands is a source of some interesting lessons for us all when set against society's conventions and restrictions in the past. The final part brings us up to the present day with a reflection not only on the family’s achievements but how they did things while retaining a certain moral fibre. But lawyers, civil servants, accountants, bankers and the greed and lack of integrity in society get vicious tongue-in-cheek treatment. There are no happy endings, but just a glimmer of hope...