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Companion to English Literature

July 28, 2009 by Roy Johnson

authors, books, literary topics, and cultural issues

The first edition of the Oxford Companion to English Literature was published in 1932, and quickly established itself as the standard source of reference for students and general readers. Since then it has gone through six editions, the latest of which has been hugely updated and expanded. Of course it’s not the sole work of editor Margaret Drabble. She has assembled a team of 140 fairly distinguished authors (all listed) who have written authoritatively on their specialisms.

Oxford Companion to English LiteratureThe entries are biographies of novelists, poets, and dramatists; and there are sketches of well-known philosophers, historians, critics, and biographers. It includes non-English writers such as Balzac, Goethe, and Tolstoy, as well as figures from other genres such as Dürer, Pasolini, and Prokoviev. It includes mini-essays on genres; fictional characters; famous works (Aaron’s Rod to Max Beerbohm’s Zuleika Dobson); famous places, and literary theory.

There are bonuses, such as the special essays on detective, gothic, and historical fiction. It also explains literary genres such as free verse, the epic, metaphors, and naturalism. So if you need a potted account of the differences between ‘New Historicism’ and ‘Cultural Materialism’ for instance, it can be found here, cross-referenced and explained in jargon-free language.

The extras are also entries on significant magazines such as Edinburgh Review and Atlantic Monthly; entries on deconstruction, folios and quartos; the Hogarth Press and Penguin Books; performance poetry and post-colonial literature.

One particularly useful feature is the potted accounts of novels and dramas. I’m fairly sure I will be going back to that, having refreshed my memory of the sprawling plot of Malcolm Lowry’s Under the Volcano as a sort of test case.

So, a typical entry runs as follows. This is a literature-related text which had a huge influence in the Cold War period.

God that Failed, The: Six Studies in Communism, a volume published in 1950, edited by R.H.S.Crossman, which marked a significant point in the reaction against the pro-communist mood of the 1930s. It contained contributions by three ex-communists, *Koestler, *Silone, and R. *Wright, and by three sympathisers, *Gide (presented by Enid *Starkie), Louis Fischer, and *Spender (who had been a party member for a matter of weeks only).

There is a detailed timeline covering the period 1000 to 2005. This lists major literary works, and it also records important events which happened at the same time, to provide a socio-political context. For those of us who were denied a classical education, there’s a generous outline of its main authors, texts, and characters – from Aristophanes and Aristotle to Virgil and Xenophon. There are also appendix lists of poets laureate, plus Nobel, Pulitzer, and Booker Man prizewinners for literature.

This is the sort of reference book which you will grab off the shelf the moment you see a name you don’t recognise, when you want to check the date, the author, or the correct title of a work you see mentioned, or if you want to know about ‘The Battle of Alcazar’ (1594) or ‘The Wreck of the Deutschland’ (1875).

It certainly gets pride of place in my handy revolving bookcase, alongside the great dictionaries and my local A to Z.

© Roy Johnson 2006

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Margaret Drabble (ed), The Oxford Companion to English Literature, (revised sixth edition) Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006, pp.1172, ISBN: 0198614535


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Concise Companion to English Literature

July 27, 2009 by Roy Johnson

authors, books, literary topics, and cultural issues

This Concise Companion to English Literature is a cut-down paperback version of Margaret Drabble’s Oxford Companion to English Literature. It’s based on the sixth edition, but it adds 500+ new entries on contemporary writers, ‘women writers’ and literary theorists. The main entries are thumbnail sketches of novelists, poets, and dramatists; but there are also entries representing philosophers, historians, scholars, critics, biographers, travel writers, and journalists.

Concise Companion to English Literature Topics covered include authors (from Abelard to Zola); literary genres (from the Absurd to yellow-backs); characters in fiction, drama, and poetry; famous works (Lawrence’s Aaron’s Rod to Max Beerbohm’s Zuleika Dobson); famous literary places, and concepts in literary theory. There are bonuses, such as the occasional special mini-essays on topics such as biography, or detective, gothic, and historical fiction. It also explains literary genres such as free verse, the epic, metaphors, and naturalism.

It more or less reflects contemporary concerns: Sorley McLean and Marshall McLuhan get far less space than Bernard McLaverty.

The extras are entries on significant magazines such as Edinburgh Review and Atlantic Monthly; entries on deconstruction, folios and quartos; the Hogarth Press and Penguin Books; performance poetry and post-colonial literature.

There are also appendix lists of poets laureate, plus Nobel, Pulitzer, and Booker Man prizewinners for literature.

One useful feature is the potted plots of novels and dramas. I’m fairly sure I will be going back to that, having refreshed my memory of the sprawling plot of Malcolm Lowry’s Under the Volcano.

For those of us who were denied a classical education, there’s a generous outline of its main authors, texts, and characters – from Aristophanes and Aristotle to Virgil and Xenophon.

This is the sort of reference book which you will grab off the shelf the moment you see a name you don’t recognise, when you want to check the date, the author, or the correct title of a work you see mentioned, or if you want to know about ‘The Battle of Alcazar’ (1594) or ‘The Wreck of the Deutschland’ (1875).

© Roy Johnson 2005

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Margaret Drabble and Jenny Stringer, The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 3rd edition, 2003, pp.752, ISBN: 0199214921


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Filed Under: 19C Literature, 20C Literature, Literary Studies Tagged With: Cultural history, English literature, Literary studies, Reference

Concise Oxford Dictionary

July 27, 2009 by Roy Johnson

best-selling one-volume desktop reference

Choosing a dictionary can be very much a matter of personal taste, but the Concise Oxford Dictionary has several features which have always made it a great favourite with writers. It is based upon the monumental Oxford English Dictionary and its latest supplements, which gives it a very good pedigree. At a practical level, it’s perfect for the desktop and easy to handle. I always reach for this one first. For the latest edition, Oxford’s lexicographers have rewritten every entry to represent English as it is used today.

Concise Oxford Dictionary There are over 240,000 words, phrases and meanings covering current and historical English, and specialist and technical areas. Each entry is now clearer and more accessible, with the most modern meanings placed first, and definitions given in a clear and straightforward style. Authoritative guidance on grammar and usage is provided in highlighted boxes, and there are also new Word Formation panels that show how complex words are created.

Full explanations of pronunciation, inflexion, and historical derivation are offered in a systematic manner, and the latest edition also includes a wide range of abbreviations. The Concise Oxford was first published one hundred years ago, and this centenary edition continues the tradition of providing an authoritative coverage of English as it is used today.

Another welcome feature (added as a result of reader-demand) is guidance on matters of disputed and controversial usage. Now you can be warned about that possible non-PC faux-pas (both included) – and it also shows the differences for spellings in American English.

I’ve actually got two copies: one old and battered with use which has been on the bookshelf for years; the other a recent edition which was a present to my office when I moved here.

The critic Cyril Connolly once said that if you knew all the words in the Oxford Concise, you would have a big enough vocabulary to be civilized, fluent, and literate. The jacket-cover advert isn’t exaggerating when it says “The world’s favourite”. If you only have room for a single dictionary, it should be this one.

© Roy Johnson 2011

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Concise Oxford English Dictionary (12th updated edn) 2011, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.1728, ISBN: 0199601089


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Copy Editing

May 31, 2009 by Roy Johnson

a handbook for editors, authors, and publishers

Judith Butcher’s Copy Editing is now firmly established as the UK classic reference guide for editors and others involved in preparing text for publication. It is written from the perspective of a professional copy-editor, and covers just about everything you would need to know in preparing any sort of text for publication. It deals with all the details of preparing a typescript for setting, house styles and consistency, reading and correcting proofs, and how to present indexes and bibliographies.

Copy-Editing - The Cambridge Handbook for Editors, Authors and Publishers Every suggestion is scrupulously illustrated without being pedantic, and there is a very helpful degree of cross-referencing. I originally bought my own copy of this book to sort out the finer points of bibliographic referencing for academic writing – and I’ve been using it regularly ever since. The book itself is almost a tutorial on the very principles it illustrates, and it is a very handsomely produced and elegantly designed publication. You will learn a lot on the presentation of text just from turning the pages.

It contains explanations of every part of a book – from details such as preliminary matter, frontispiece, title page, and content, through to lists of tables and illustrations, acknowledgements, bibliographies, notes, and indexes. And it covers many types of printed book – from conventional prose, through books on mathematics, music, books with tables and illustrations, and books set in foreign languages.

The latest edition also deals with issues of copyright, the conventions of presenting text in specialist subjects, guidance on digital coding and publishing in other media such as e-books, and a chapter devoted to on-screen copy-editing.

It has also been updated to take account of modern typesetting and printing technology. This is a good investment for writers who are serious about preparing their work for publication, and an excellent source of reference when you get stuck with the minutiae of bibliographies and typographic presentation. It’s also now available in paperback.

© Roy Johnson 2007

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Judith Butcher, Copy-Editing: The Cambridge Handbook for Editors, Authors and Publishers, 4th edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006, pp.558, ISBN: 0521847133


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Desktop publishing terms – a glossary

September 15, 2009 by Roy Johnson

the language of word-processing and DTP

Desktop publishing terms

Attributes
Attributes are the stylistic properties of an object. Attributes of text include size, case, boldness. Attributes of graphics include line thickness, fill colour and line colour. A set of attributes applied to an object is called a style.

Backup
A duplicate of electronic files (programs. data or operating systems). It is available in place of the original in case of corruption/loss/availability problems. A wise person creates backups frequently.

Base line
The imaginary line that characters rest on in a line of text (see also line spacing).

Bit Map Image
A dot matrix image where each dot is represented by one bit in the digital memory. Complex images are built up using these dots. Resolution of about 300 dots per inch may require approximately I Mbyte for a complete A4 page.

Body text
The main text in a document, in distinction from headlines and captions.

Bold
In printing, a heavier version of a particular typeface. An enhancement of the text.

Bubble jet printer
Generically applied brand name for an Ink Jet Printer.

Bullet
In printing, a graphic symbol usually in the form of a large dot marking the commencement of a new paragraph. Used to attract the reader’s attention.

Byte
A byte is 8 bits. The storage capacity of computers (ROM and RAM) and disks is generally given in kilobytes, (1024 bytes), megabytes or gigabytes. Approximately one byte is required to store one character.

Caption
Text placed under an illustration to describe it.

CD-ROM
A way of distributing programs and data on a disk very like an audio CD which allows large amounts of storage and is very portable. ROM indicates data can be copied from the CD but that the contents cannot be changed or deleted. In DTP this media is particularly useful for Font and Clip-Art libraries.

Central Processing Unit [CPU]
This term is used variously to describe the base unit of the computer system or the main chip within it.

Character
A symbol used in a writing system. In most western languages the letters A to Z, a to z, 0 to 9 and punctuation characters such as : ; , ? etc.

Clip-Art
Pictures of general use which are provided in a library for easy inclusion in publications. Clip art libraries are usually provided without copyright restrictions.

Clipboard
A temporary storage area in computer memory to which objects are cut or copied and from which they can be posted directly into a position into a page or a DTP work area. The clipboard holds one object at a time.

Copy
(1) To reproduce an object by placing it into the clipboard then pasting it elsewhere in the same publication or into a document belonging to another program.
(2) To reproduce a file by renaming it or placing it on another drive or directory. Often done as a form of data security. [See Backup.]

Copyright
The exclusive rights to, and control of, the reproduction, sales, copying or distribution of creative works of art. music, literature or coded programs for computing.

Corruption
The inadvertent destruction of electronic data which causes data received or read to differ from that transmitted or originally recorded.

Crop
To cut the edges of an illustration to fit in a given space or to show a particular detail.

Cut
In electronic text or graphic production, the transfer of objects from one file to a temporary storage area in memory called the clipboard from where they can be pasted into a different page, file or into the DTP work area.

Default
An option that is used automatically unless an alternative is specified. For example a default font of Times New Roman 12 is very common.

Directory (or Folder)
A software division of a disk, usually used to keep similar files together, rather in the manner of a drawer in a filing cabinet. A disk may contain many directories. A directory often contains several other directories called sub-directories.

Digital camera
A camera which stores images as digital information rather than on photographic film. This allows images to be easily displayed and edited on computer.

Disk
In computing, a thin disk coated with magnet material, on which information can be recorded. Sometimes spelled disc.

Dot matrix
Usually applied to printer and screen output devices which make up character/images from a matrix of dots. Quality depends on dot density and size. (See also resolution). Historically a type of printer that used inky ribbons and mechanical contact.

Draft
(1) A rough layout of a page, document or publication.
(2) Used to describe print quality – particularly with respect to dot matrix printers, where draft quality is synonymous with poor quality but high speed output.

EPS
Encapsulated postscript, a very versatile file format used for sending files to commercial printers, and thus avoiding the cost of typesetting. [See postscript.]

File
An organised and structured collection of information. In computing it is the basic unit of stored or accessible user data held in auxiliary storage. Programs as well as data are held in file format.

File names
The names used by the Operating system to identify files. Two files cannot have the same name and occupy the same storage location on a disk.

File type (or extension)
The part of the filename which indicates which program created it, and therefore which system it is written in. This is essential information in DTP which is very concerned with file transfer. Typical file types are DOC (for a word processor document) and BMP (for Bitmap image). Some Operating Systems do not always display file types, but will have the facility to do so.

Floppy disk
A thin portable plastic disk usually 3.5″ in diameter on which electronic files can be recorded. Typically holds over I Megabyte of data.

Folder
See Directory.

Font
A complete collection of letters, punctuation marks, numbers, and special characters with a consistent and identical typeface, weight (Roman or bold), posture (upright or italic) and font size.

Technically, font still refers to one complete set of characters in a given typeface, weight, and size, such as Helvetica italic 12 – but the terms has come to be used interchangably for refering to typefaces or font families.

Footer
Information that appears at the bottom of every page (within the normal bottom margin) of a document – for instance, page number. (See also Header)

Format
(1) The system used for storing a file on disk. Different programs use different methods of recording identical information.
(2) The layout and arrangement of tracks and sectors on a disk.
(3) Sometimes also applied to the layout or arrangement of graphics and/or text on a page or screen.

Gigabyte
About a thousand megabytes.

Global
Relating to anything in computing that extends over the whole system. For example, a ‘global search and replace’ means that any occurrence of a specified word will be found, and replaced by another specified word.

Graphic
In computing, the presentation of information which is not in character form. Picture information as distinct from textual. Some characters may be constructed in graphic form, these are considered to be graphics.

Greeking
The use of dummy text that looks like Greek script and is used to give an impression of the appearance of the finished document. This is used to make it easy to judge the overall appearance of a document without being distracted by the meaning of the text.

Guide (in DTP)
A non-printing line used to aid the positioning of text or graphics.

Gutter
The space between columns of text on a page.

Hard disk
An auxiliary storage device able to store very large quantities of data that is usually mounted inside the System unit. Typically holds greater than I Gigabyte of data.

Header
Information that appears at the top of every page (within the normal top margin) of a document – for instance, the title of a report, or page number. (See also Footer)

Import
Bring an object (graphic or text) into a DTP page.

Indent
The position of text in from the margin.

Ink jet printer
A non-impact printer which prints by spraying a finely controlled jet of ink from a nozzle onto paper. The electrically charged ink droplets are moved by electrical fields to form the characters in dot matrix form.

Input device
A unit of hardware from which the computer reads data.

Inter-line spacing
Space between lines in a paragraph. (See also leading.)

Internet
A system of connecting computers together via telephone lines managed by network management computers. Enables transmission of data around the globe, and is a rich source of graphic material.

Intranet
A communicating system of computers that is theoretically confined to one place – in an organisation, or even a single office.

Italic
A typeface variation in which letters slope forward.

Justification
To format text so that lines are of equal length producing vertical columns of space at the left and right margins. Spaces between words are enlarged so that text characters always touch both left and right margins.

Kerning
The space between characters. Now used to define proportional spacing between characters which is dependent upon the character width.

Landscape
Describes the paper orientation – in this case the width is greater than the height and so often referred to as wide. (See Portrait.)

Laser printer
A non-impact printer which uses a laser beam and toner applied to paper to produce fast, quiet, high density (typically 75 to 1600 dpi or greater) dot matrix images.

Leading
The distance in points between lines of text – pronounced as in ‘ledd-ing’ (see also Inter-line spacing.)

Line spacing
(See Inter-line spacing.)

Logo
A visual image used as a company trade mark or instead of the company name.

Lowercase
The set of 26 characters ‘a’ to ‘z’. Not capital (uppercase) characters.

Master page
A page which contains objects (such as headers, page numbers or borders) which will be reproduced on every other page of a document.

Megabyte
About a thousand kilobytes (actually, 1,048,576 bytes)

Network
Computers connected together for the purpose of sharing resources and communication.

Non proportional spacing
Fonts in which letter spacing which does not vary for different width of character. Rarely used except in tables and text processing assessments where it gives the appearance of work produced on a manual typewriter.

Object
A graphic or piece of text treated as a single item. Word processing treats text as a set of characters. DTP usually treats text as an object.

OCR (Optical Character Recognition)
Software which converts pictures of, printed text (acquired by a scanner) into an text file for further editing or formatting.

Operating system (OS)
Programs which run the computer, and without which the computer would not work. The OS allows the programs we use to run. The various Windows, Mac System7 and its successors and the various OS2 products may all be considered operating systems.

Orphan
The first line of a paragraph appearing by itself at the bottom of a page as the last line of the page.

Output device
A device to which the computer writes data. Often converts the data into a human readable form. A printer is an output device.

Pagination
The process of defining where page breaks will occur. Involves setting page length, size or number of lines and, where required, the setting of page numbering.

Paragraph
A piece of text terminated by a hard return. Thus a title or a heading can be a paragraph.

Paste
A command which transfers an object from the clipboard into the DTP work area.

Pitch
The measure of horizontal character spacing. Now very rarely used outside of typing classes the word is a contraction of ‘per inch’ and assumes every character, be it a W or an 1. is of the same width.

Pixel
The smallest addressable point on a VDU. One pixel is one of the dots forming the dot matrix on the screen of a VDU. The commonest monitors use a 640 by 480 pixel grid.

Plotter
A mechanical device which produces printout using vector or co-ordinate graphics often by using a pen moved about on rails.

Point size
A measurement of the size of type; one point is equal to one-seventy-second of an inch. On systems that use millimetres 3 points to one rnillimetre is a useful approximation.

Portrait
A piece of paper, an image or page which is turned so that the height is greater than the width. Often simply called tall.

Postscript
A print description language used as a way of communicating with printers that is not dependent on program, operating system or model of computer. Desk Top Publishing can produce EPS (encapsulated postscript) files on disks which can then be sent to high volume print companies, thereby saving the expense of typesetting and allowing the small system user access to professional quality publication.

Property
The stylistic features of an object. (See also Attribute.)

Proof reading
Checking text in detail for errors.

Proportional spacing
Characters are allocated horizontal spacing in proportion to their size, thus an ‘m’ would have more space than an ‘i’. Most fonts are of this type. (See also non-proportional spacing.)

Publication
The product of a DTP program. That is, a completed work for sale or distribution. Also applied to a work in progress.

Overzoom
A zoom setting of greater than 100%. Used for accurate placement of objects and working with small details.

RAM (Random Access Memory.)
The part of a computer’s memory in which information is stored. RAM is volatile; its contents are lost when power is removed.

Resolution
The amount of detail visible in any display or copy. Most computer system output devices produce images from a matrix of small dots. Resolution then depends on the size and number of dots per unit length or area.

ROM (Read Only Memory)
Memory which can be read repeatedly, but cannot be changed. ROM is non-volatile, its contents are retained when power is switched off. (See CD-ROM)

Rulers
Guides on screen display to enable accurate measurements.

Sans serif
Characters which do not have serifs. (Sans is French for ‘without’).

Scale
The ratio between something real and the represented image of it. For example a scale of 1:4 represents something a quarter of its original size.

Scanner
A device which reads (in dot matrix form) a document and can reproduce it as a bit map on an electronic file. Scanners may be handheld, suitable for scanning small amounts of text or small graphics, or Flatbed, which usually take a single sheet of A4 paper. Monochrome and colour versions are available. Colour is more expensive. (See OCR)

Search and replace
A facility whereby a specified sequence of characters can be located and replaced by another sequence.

Serif
The short cross lines at the end of characters. These are intended to make letters more easily recognized and text easier to read.

Spellchecker
A facility that reads text and compares it with a word bank, querying any words it does not recognize. Very useful for the detection of typing errors.

Storage device
A device from which the computer reads data, and to which the computer writes data. Therefore an input/output device. Most often a disk drive, either local or on a network.

Stylesheet
A list of standard type styles which can be applied to paragraphs in a publication. This feature of DTP allows consistent layout and presentation.

System unit
The main unit of a computer system into which peripherals are connected. Sometimes called the CPU.

Text editor A simple word processor with limited facilities.

Text wrap
A feature whereby text flows round a graphic object. Wrap can be set off, so text flows over the object, square, so that it forms a rectangular frame, or set to follow the contours of the object.

Typeface
(See Font)

Typestyle
A defined and named set of attributes which can be applied to text objects.

Uppercase
The set of 26 characters ‘A’ to ‘Z’. THIS IS UPPERCASE (not lowercase).

VDU (Visual Display Unit)
Also called monitor or screen. An output device on which text or graphics is displayed in dot matrix form.

Zoom
The feature of a system which varies the size of the screen display of a publication. These setting between 400% (4 times actual size) and 10% (a tenth of actual size)

© Roy Johnson 2004


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Dictionary for Scientific Writers and Editors

August 4, 2009 by Roy Johnson

specialist scientific style guide and reference

This Dictionary for Scientific Writers and Editors is aimed at scholars working in an academic setting and people writing or editing scientific papers – say in book publishing or the mass print media. It gives exact details of how scientific matter is presented in written form – both in terms of the correct spelling for scientific terms and the manner in which scientific data such as equations are rendered on the page. It’s part of a set of specialist dictionaries and style guides produced by Oxford University Press.

Dictionary for Scientific Writers and EditorsThe OUP is the number one source for reference books of this kind, and the series manages to compress huge, unwieldy databases of information into a handy, useable format. This single volume includes over 9,700 entries which reflect accepted usage, and it follows the recommendations of international scientific bodies such as the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics.

It gives clear guidance on such matters as spellings (American English and British English), punctuation, abbreviations, prefixes and suffixes, units and quantities, and symbols. Also included are the correct spelling of chemical and medical terms; short explanations of the meaning of scientific concepts; basic data about famous scientists; explanations of acronyms; and definitions of terms.

There are appendices with lists of chemical and electro-magnetic symbols; the periodic table; scientific symbols; and a list of web-based resources. It provides substantially enlarged coverage from previous editions, with increased coverage of the life sciences, and new entries in physics, astronomy, chemistry, computer science, and mathematics.

This comprehensive and authoritative A-Z guide is an invaluable tool for students, professionals, and publishers working with writing in the fields of physics, chemistry, botany, zoology, biochemistry, genetics, immunology, microbiology, astronomy, mathematics, and computer science.

These style guides are in a curious format – royal sixteenmo – which is smaller than a conventional book, but too bulky to be pocket-sized. But I must say that it looks quite diminutively handsome on my shelves alongside its colleagues the New Oxford Spelling Dictionary, New Hart’s Rules, and the Oxford BBC Guide to Pronunciation.

© Roy Johnson 2009

Dictionary for Scientific Writers and Editors   Buy the book at Amazon UK

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New Oxford Dictionary for Scientific Writers and Editors, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009, pp.451, ISBN: 0199545154


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Dictionary of British Place Names

July 29, 2009 by Roy Johnson

origins of UK town, hamlet, and village names

Have you ever wondered how places such as Eccles, Stoke Poges, Great Snoring, Lower Peover, or Leighton Buzzard get their names? This Dictionary of British Place Names will tell you, and give you details about the historical background. The reason there are so many unusual names for British towns, villages, and hamlets is of course that the UK has been invaded by so many different nations in the past. They have left their languages stamped all over the land.

Oxford Dictionary of British Place NamesAnd as the author of this specialist dictionary points out, foreign languages actually persist in place names more than in the living language, because place names are not likely to change, whereas the spoken language does. There are over 17,000 entries listed here – alphabetically, from Abbas Combe in Somerset to Zennor in Cornwall. Most place names come from Old English, Danish, Norse, and Celtic, with only a smattering from Norman-French, and Latin. And not all of the etymologies are as obvious as they might seem.

For instance, many place names which occur a lot can in fact come from different origins. Broughton occurs in several counties and combinations such as Broughton Astley (Leics) and Broughton Poggs (Oxon). But the name can come from ‘brook farmstead’, ‘hill farmstead’, or ‘fortified farmstead’.

The opposite phenomenon also occurs – where the same thing can give rise to different names. Thus Keswick and Chiswick both come from ‘cheese farm’.

Most of the names listed are likely to be at least a thousand years old, and structurally they are often in two parts. The first may be a place, person, tribal, or river-name – and it qualifies the second part. Thus Bakewell was originally Badecanwelle formed from Badeca + wella = ‘Spring or stream of a man called Badeca’.

There’s a glossary of common elements in British place names – such as baernet, land cleared by burning; mynster, minster or large church; and stoc, outlying farmstead or hamlet. This occurs in my own home town of Stockport – which I notice has just appeared in the designed-for-Xmas novelty publication, Crap Towns: The 50 Worst Places to Live in the UK.

© Roy Johnson 2011

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A.D. Mills, Oxford Dictionary of British Place Names, Oxford: Oxford University Press, revised edition, 2011, pp.576, ISBN: 019960908X


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Dictionary of Classical Myth and Religion

July 27, 2009 by Roy Johnson

comprehensive A to Z reference to the classical world

This Dictionary of Classical Myth and Religionis a serious reference book providing invaluable information not only on Greek and Roman mythologies but also on religion in the Graeco-Roman world, including both Judaism and Christianity. It runs from Abaris, legendary devotee of Apollo, through to Zoroaster (who I didn’t realise was the Greek form of the Iranian Zarathrustra). Many of the entries are the length of mini essays. The compilation includes both Greek mythology and Roman festivals, religious places, gods, deities, divination, astrology, and magic. There are also entries on Egyptian religion, Christian beliefs, Homer, Judaism, magic, and river gods.

Dictionary of Classical Myth and ReligionSo, in a typical entry you are given multiple interpretations and sources. Electra for instance is daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra and sister of Orestes, but she is also alternatively daughter of Atlas and Pleione, mother by Zeus of Dardanus and Iasion.

You can also look up classical notions such as the polis, votive offerings, and hubris (‘intentionally dishonouring behaviour’ – not ‘pride or over-confidence’) .

Iliona, in mythology, eldest daughter of Priam and Hecuba. Wife of Polymestor (see HECUBA), she saved the life of Polydorus in a variant version by passing him off as her son, Polymestor thus murdering his own child.
(Virgil, Aeneid 1. 653-4)

The main text is supplemented by an important introductory essay providing
overviews of mythology, religious pluralism in the ancient world, and the
reception of myths from antiquity to the present.

This is a serious, heavyweight, and comprehensive work of reference. It also contains maps, lists of genealogical tables, a thematic index, and an extensive bibliography. An ideal resource for students and teachers of ancient history and religion and anyone interested in the ancient world.

© Roy Johnson 2003

Dictionary of Classical Myth and Religion   Buy the book at Amazon UK

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Simon Price and Emily Kearns, The Oxford Dictionary of Classical Myth and Religion, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003, pp.599, ISBN: 0192802887


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Dictionary of Contemporary Slang

July 20, 2009 by Roy Johnson

street-speak, vulgar language, swearing and obscenities

It’s very difficult for dictionary compilers to keep up with the development of slang. Would you have known what chav and bling meant a year ago – in 2004 that is? But Tony Thorne’s compilation certainly captures most of the new street language that is passing into common usage as I write towards the end of 2005. Of course some of it may not last, but I have the feeling his selection is well-judged.

Dictionary of Contemporary SlangHe offers more than 15,000 definitions, many of the terms drawn from the worlds of drugs, sport, youth culture, and television, as well as traditional slang topics such as sex, money, and bodily functions. He also explains how and when the terms are used, with notes on nuance, tone, and associations. The language items are drawn from Britain, America, and Australia, as well as other English-speaking countries. He gives plenty of examples of usage and cites sources wherever possible.

He defines slang quite persuasively as “language selected for its striking informality”. And of course it’s is a loose enough term to encompass irreverence, vulgarity, new jargon, and obscenity – as well as the coded terms used by minority groups as a sort of secret language.

I was glad to see that he acknowledges one of my favourite sources of contemporary slang – Roger’s Profanisaurus – and cites it as the source for their wonderful synonym for bonkers which seems to still be in general circulation – “He’s gone completely hatstand“.

He also includes Cockney rhyming slang, which is still popular and spawning new variants all the time – although his entry on the now-disgraced Garry Glitter does not illustrate a beverage as other slang dictionaries claim, but a body part – itself a slang term. (I’ll leave you to work that one out.)

And he’s good at keeping dated slang in the lexicon. Probably not many people under forty would know that ‘gams’ is a slang term for shapely legs (on a woman of course) or that it comes from the Old Northern French term gamb – obviously itself closely related to jambe.

He’s also good at noting the mutiple possible meanings of words: fag can be a male homosexual or something you smoke. [Oops! it’s all a linguistic minefield.] So – a typical entry runs as follows, fully explaining the term:

naff adj

tasteless, inferior, shoddy, and unappealing. Naff had existed in working-class slang for at least 40 years by the time it became a vogue word in the later 1970s. It had been used in the jargon of prostitutes to mean nothing or negligible. In the theatrical, criminal and street-trading milieus it meant third-rate or poor quality. The word’s sudden popularity occurred probably because it was seized upon by TV scriptwriters (particularly Dick Clement and Ian la Frenais in the comic series Porridge) as an acceptable euphemism for fuck in such forms as ‘naff-all’ (meaning fuck-all), naffing and naff off. Naff’s ultimate origin, which seems to be 19th century, is nonetheless obscure. It has been claimed that it is a backslang form of fann(y) (in the sense of females sex organs) or an acronym or alteration of a phrase involving the word fuck (‘not a fucking fart’ or similar). Neither etymology is attested (or particularly convincing), and the similarity to NAFFI is probably coincidental-

‘To be naff is to be unstylish, whatever that may mean.’

(The Complete Naff Guide, Bryson, et al, 1983)

A lot of the examples he gives are actually US slang which is passing into UK usage, but he explains the provenance. He includes phrases as well as individual words – as in choke the chicken and smuggling peanuts.

Tony Thorne knows his stuff. There’s no slack here. The language of the street is up front. He doesn’t pretend to the sort of historical depth you get with Eric Partridge, but this is as up-to-date a dictionary of ‘strikingly informal’ contemporary language as you are likely to find.

© Roy Johnson 2007

Dictionary of Contemporary Slang   Buy the book at Amazon UK

Dictionary of Contemporary Slang   Buy the book at Amazon US


Tony Thorne, Dictionary of Contemporary Slang, London: A and C Black, 3rd revised edition, 2006, pp.512, ISBN: 0713675292


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Filed Under: Dictionaries, Slang Tagged With: Dictionaries, Dictionary of Contemporary Slang, English language, Language, Reference, Slang

Dictionary of English Idioms

January 2, 2010 by Roy Johnson

explanations of familiar phrases and popular sayings

Dictionary of English Idioms. Do you know the origin of the expressions ‘as mad as a hatter’ – ‘to cut the mustard’ – or ‘a mess of pottage ‘? I knew the first one, because it comes from my home town, Stockport in Cheshire UK, where milleners went slightly bonkers from the use of mercury in hat manufacturing. [And if the expression also reminds you of Lewis Carrol, we’re not far from Dewsbury where he was born.]

English IdiomsThis is another of OUP’s cheap and cheerful specialist dictionaries, containing 6,000 idioms, alphabetically arranged by key word, and covering metaphorical phrases, familiar quotations and proverbs, and similes. It provides meanings for well-known idioms such as set the world alight, cost an arm and a leg, once in a blue moon, and many more. A date of origin is often given and many entries are supported by illustrative quotations from sources as varied as the Bible, the Spectator, and the novels of Agatha Christie.

The collection covers expressions from British English (the man on the Clapham omnibus) as well as American English (cut to the chase) and quite a few from Australian English (give someone Bondi). Full of fascinating facts, this dictionary is ideal for anyone with an interest in the origins of words and phrases. Arrangement of words alphabetically by key word means easy browsing.

As a work of reference, it will probably be of most use to someone trying to improve their English, or someone trying to become more intimately acquainted with those parts of a language which cannot be absorbed by knowledge of vocabulary and grammar alone. How else for instance would a foreigner learn the meaning of raining cats and dogs? But ultimately it will be attractive to anyone interested in the origins of the colloquial and quirky byways of the English language.

Dictionary of English Idioms   Buy the book at Amazon UK

Dictionary of English Idioms   Buy the book at Amazon US

© Roy Johnson 2010


John Ayto, Oxford Dictionary of Idioms, Oxford: Oxford University Press, third edition, 2010, pp.408, ISBN: 019954378X


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Filed Under: Dictionaries, Language use Tagged With: Dictionaries, Dictionary of English Idioms, Idioms, Literary studies, Reference

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