Social Linguistics

Michael O'Halloran is the charming Gene Stratton-Porter novel of an orphaned newspaper seller who asks nothing of the world except to "be square". The book presents a vivid description of American life in 1914 and, though the characters suffer many hardships, the overall tone is so upbeat that it's easy to see why this book outsold Pollyanna in 1916. Stratton-Porter's skills as a naturalist make the country scenes especially vibrant. Her ear for dialogue is unsurpassed, demonstrating to the listener that, if life in America wasn't like this, it should have been.

Lady Mason's trial for forgery and perjury shocks the neighborhood. A cast of unforgettable characters views her with disdain, compassion, and disbelief. And then there are the love stories....

A viral linguist’s account of the ways our vocabularies are evolving, the Internet’s influence on communication, and what our use of language reveals about the modern world

Some studies say that over 80 percent of communication occurs nonverbally, and a large part of that is through body language and the image we present. From the way you stand, walk, and gesture, you could be telling one thing, but the listener could be hearing something completely different. This is why it’s incredibly important that you master body language.

A celebration of the language and culture of Italy, La Bella Lingua is the story of how a language shaped a nation, told against the backdrop of one woman's personal quest to speak fluent Italian. For anyone who has been to Italy, the fantasy of living the Italian life is powerfully seductive. But to truly become Italian, one must learn the language. This is how Dianne Hales began her journey. In La Bella Lingua, she brings the story of her decades-long experience with "the world's most loved and lovable language" together with explorations of Italy's history.

A mind-expanding, deeply humane tour of language by the best-selling author of Born on a Blue Day and Thinking in Numbers.

Phineas Finn, a handsome young man of 23, comes to England to make his fortune in parliamentary politics. But despite all his aspirations, Finn is haunted by ethical questions as his personal convictions conflict with his duty towards his party. Loyalty versus honor, love versus money, and privacy versus prominence: our eponymous hero faces a variety of dilemmas as he navigates his way through the House of Commons.

A far-reaching exploration of the idea of creation in Western thought, literature, religion, and history, this volume can fairly be called a magnum opus. He reflects on the different ways we have of talking about beginnings, on the "core-tiredness" that pervades our end-of-the-millennium spirit, and on the changing grammar of our discussions about the end of Western art and culture.

This third edition of the bestselling textbook has been fully revised, continuing to provide a concise introduction to the key concepts of semiotics in accessible and jargon-free language.

Almost everyone swears, or worries about not swearing, from the two year-old who has just discovered the power of potty mouth to the grandma who wonders why every other word she hears is obscene. Whether they express anger or exhilaration, are meant to insult or to commend, swear words perform a crucial role in language. But swearing is also a uniquely well-suited lens through which to look at history, offering a fascinating record of what people care about on the deepest levels of a culture - what's divine, what's terrifying, and what's taboo.

What if you knew how to sell on the subconscious level? What if you knew the tactics and techniques that allowed you to penetrate through your customer’s conscious faculty and reach them on a deep and influential level? What if you knew exactly how to produce the emotional reaction that would cause them to buy? What if you knew how to read your customer’s body language so well that you could lead them to the decision you wanted, with ease? Listen to find out more.

Scots: The Mither Tongue is a classic of contemporary Scottish culture and essential listening for those who care about their country's identity in the 21st century. It is a passionately written history of how the Scots have come to speak the way they do and has acted as a catalyst for radical changes in attitude towards the language. In this revised edition, Kay vigorously renews the social, cultural, and political debate on Scotland's linguistic future, and argues convincingly for the necessity to retain and extend Scots if the nation is to hold on to its intrinsic values.

Stalky & Co. is a book published in 1899 (following serialization in the Windsor Magazine) by Rudyard Kipling, about adolescent boys at a British boarding school. It is a collection of linked short stories in format, with some information about the charismatic Stalky character in later life. The character Beetle, one of the main trio, is partly based on Kipling himself. Stalky is based on Lionel Dunsterville, M'Turk is based on George Charles Beresford, and Mr. King is based on William Carr Crofts.

Stephen Leacock (1869-1944) may be considered the Canadian counterpart to Mark Twain. For many years he was professor of economics at Magill University and published a number of well-regarded texts on economics and political science. However, he is best known today for his many volumes of humorous fiction. During the 1920s he was one of the most widely read authors in the English-speaking world and was considered by Jack Benny and Groucho Marx to be one of the greatest comic writers of all time.

Everyone likes to think they know a bit about language: There are some words that you simply can't translate into English. The origin of a word tells you how it should be used. A dialect is inferior to a language. The problem is, none of these statements are true. In Don't Believe a Word, linguist David Shariatmadari explodes nine common myths about language and introduces us to some of the fundamental insights of modern linguistics.

We live in a world ridden with conflict. Everyone knows about it and only a select few have any motivation to do anything about it. In general, people stick to their point of view believing that everyone else is wrong and most never stop to consider that each individual acts upon their "right way", that is, their individual values. This misunderstanding in society of the way we think, not what we think, or how we think, leads to conflict which manifests in personal relationships, business relationships, community struggle, and even conflicts at the global level.

In A Hero of Our Time, Grigory Pechorin is a bored, self-centered, and cynical young army officer who believes in nothing. With impunity he toys with the love of women and the goodwill of men. He is brave, determined, and willful, but his wasted energy and potential ultimately result in tragedy.

Most people traditionally train only the conventional aspects of their abilities, they focus on the technical skills of a task. However there is another layer, an emotional and behavioral set of factors which can really make the biggest impact on the results you can achieve. That is where neuro-linguistic programming comes in. NLP techniques are designed to help you tap into those top level mindsets when required. But most people aren't equipped with the right strategies or outlook on NLP to really make it work.

On August 24, 1572, more than 2,000 French Huguenots - men, women, and children - were massacred for their faith. In St. Bartholomew's Eve, Henty vividly depicts Admiral Coligny's unflinching bravery, Queen Elizabeth's vacillating foreign policy, Catherine de Medici's vindictive scheming, and the queen of Navarre's inner strength as he recounts the adventures of Phillip Fletcher.

The time is the American Civil War: Southern plantation-owner Peyton Farquahr has been condemned to death for spying against the Union cause. As he prepares to be hanged from the Owl Creek Bridge, Farquahr morosely contemplates his fate and fondly recalls his loving wife.