Description
Are you sometimes lost for words? This useful book shows you how to boost your word power for good. Find out where words come from and how to discover their meanings. Know how to distinguish between confusing pairs (such as disinterested/uninterested, perspicacity/perspicuity) and understand the word roots that will give you the sense of related words (e.g. Greek kronos—time—gives anachronism, chronic, chronological, synchronise). Get to know the meanings and origins of foreign words and phrases (e.g. carte blanche, de facto, doppelganger) and find out who or what gave their names to words such as bikini, fuchsia, nicotine, salmonella, and sideburns. You will find collective nouns, eponyms, Americanisms, and lots, lots more. The structured exercises will ensure you always have the right word for the job.