Master verbalist Richard Lederer, America's "Wizard of Idiom" (Denver Post), presents a love letter to the most glorious of human achievements... Welcome to Richard Lederer's beguiling celebration of language -- of our ability to utter, write, and receive words. No purists need stop here. Mr. Lederer is no linguistic sheriff organizing posses to hunt down and string up language offenders. Instead, join him "In Praise of English," and discover why the tongue described in Shakespeare's day as "of small reatch" has become the most widely spoken language in history: English never rejects a word because of race, creed, or national origin. Did you know that jukebox comes from Gullah and canoe from Haitian Creole? Many of our greatest writers have invented words and bequeathed new expressions to our eveyday conversations. Can you imagine making up almost ten percent of our written vocabulary? Scholars now know that William Shakespeare did just that! He also points out the pitfalls and pratfalls of English. If a man mans a station, what does a woman do? In the "The Department of Redundancy Department," "Is English Prejudiced?" and other essays, Richard Lederer urges us not to abandon that which makes us human: the capacity to distinguish, discriminate, compare, and evaluate.

With fascinating etymologies and letter patterns for more than 1,000 everyday words, best-selling language writer Richard Lederer shines light on the most bedazzling, beguiling, and bewitching words in the English language. Chock-full of transfixing word histories, magical letter play, and hilarious puns, Amazing Words is an essential book for word lovers and verbivores. Dr. Lederer is the author of 60 books on language, history, and humor.

Learn the origins of popular phrases in the English language through this exciting book of games perfect for language lovers. Do you know the connection between the expression A HARROWING EXPERIENCE and agriculture, between BY AND LARGE and sailing, between GET YOUR GOAT and horses, or between STEAL YOUR THUNDER and show business? You probably have heard the comparisons HAPPY AS A CLAM, SMART AS A WHIP, PLEASED AS PUNCH, DEAD AS A DOORNAIL—but have you ever wondered why a clam should be happy, a whip smart, punch pleased, and a doornail dead? Through the fifty games included in The Play of Words you'll discover the answers to these questions as well as hundreds of other semantic delights that repose in our marvelous English language.

After a multi-decade career of stimulating readers to appreciate and laugh at the glories and oddities of our English language, beloved language maven Richard Lederer has collected his very best and most popular pieces in Word Wizard . In this career-capping anthology the reader will find essays that enlighten, inspire, and tickle the funny bone. From his hilarious bloopers to his hymns of praise to the English language, these essays are the brightest gems of a storied career. Word Wizard includes a new introduction, prefaces for each essay, sprightly verse, and material never before published in Leader's language books. With classic chapters such as "The World According to Student Bloopers," "English Is a Crazy Language," and "The Case for Short Words," and shiny new essays such as "The Way We Word" and "Add Wealth to Your Vocabulary," Word Wizard is sure to delight language lovers and Lederer fans everywhere.

Cleverly Comical Animal Jokes is designed for readers 8-11 years young, who love animals and humor. Inside its pages are more than 500 animal jokes that are guaranteed to make readers howl, twitter, yip, and yelp with lots of laughter. Everybody loves animal jokes: Duck jokes quack you up. Porcupine jokes are to-the-point. Elephant jokes are worth the weight. Skunk jokes are real stinkers, and kangaroo jokes are best by leaps and bounds The co-authors, Richard Lederer and Jim Ertner, have both been elected International Punster of the Year, and Jim McLean’s delightful illustrations add to the fun.

Rip Roaring Animal Jokes is designed for readers 8-11 years young, who love animals and humor. Inside its pages are more than 500 animal jokes that are guaranteed to make readers howl, twitter, yip, and yelp with lots of laughter. Everybody loves animal jokes: Duck jokes quack you up. Porcupine jokes are to-the-point. Elephant jokes are worth the weight. Skunk jokes are real stinkers, and kangaroo jokes are best by leaps and bounds. The co-authors, Richard Lederer and Jim Ertner, have both been elected International Punster of the Year, and Jim McLean’s delightful illustrations add to the fun.