Product description

Semantricks: A Dictionary of Words You Thought You Knew

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Author : Array
Binding : Paperback
EAN : 9780312377823
Edition : 1st
ISBN : 0312377827
Label : St. Martin's Griffin
Manufacturer : St. Martin's Griffin
Number of pages : 144
Publication date : 2008-06-24
Publisher : St. Martin's Griffin
Release date : 2008-06-24
Title : Semantricks: A Dictionary of Words You Thought You Knew
Languages : Array
Number of items : 1
Studio : St. Martin's Griffin

Editorial reviews

Product Description

At last, a book for the American Idle. Here is a punny new dictionary of inventive definitions of real words.

Acrimony: Spousal support payments following bitter divorce
Friction: Novel that rubs you the wrong way

Negligence: Woman's forgotten dressing gown

Zinfandel: Heathen wine

Ranging from the merely fetched (Spaniel: Iberian canine) to the far-fetched (Buccaneer: Piracy in corn pricing) to the neurologically suspect (Giraffe: Very tall spotted decanter), Semantricks will surprise, delight, and even stump the most word-wary pundits. Suffix it to say, you'll never look at diphthong the same way again.

Customer reviews

review by: scott date: 2008-08-27 rating:

The Devil's Thesaurus
I don't doubt that Lewis Gediman and his co-authors of "Semantricks" are familiar with the book's spiritual ancestor, Ambrose Bierce's turn-of-the-century satirical work "The Devil's Dictionary." While Bierce's book was more sociopolitical commentary than pun, the formats are certainly similar: pick a word, give a Wildean smirk of a definition. And while Bierce's original audience is mostly dead, the style is just as appealing today.

The "definitions" in "Semantricks" range from groaners (Dicker: have sex with a woman) to plenty of legit keepers (Deign: Condescending Scandinavian). By-and-large, this little volume does just what its makers intended, provoking everything from a smirks to a chortle. I had a physics professor who could have gotten a whole semester of torturous one-liners out of this baby, and hopefully I can inflict a few on my friends and family, too.

My only critical comment, honestly, is that both the "Forward" and the "Note on Organization" (which basically states that it's in alphabetical order, and there are pictures) are unnecessary - if you get it, you get it, eh? If you're a fan of punny wordplay, "Semantricks" more than the trick. Ambrose woulda been proud.

review by: date: 2008-07-24 rating:

Get Thee to a Punnery
There is something about a well-constructed pun that delights the mind and makes the sphincter pucker. And, believe me, after reading this book, you will be able to crack walnuts with your butt. It's laugh-out-loud funny, intelligent, witty, and insightful in ways that mainstream humor used to be before America's Funniest Home Videos made The Three Stooges look like Shakespeare. I read it in one sitting. And not because I'm very lonely. Because it's that good! So, if your boss is out of town, and you can't sleep in your cubicle, then buy this book, and have fun cracking up at what these extremely clever guys can do with the English language.

Similar categories

Books . Subjects . Entertainment . Humor . Limericks & Humorous Verse
Books . Subjects . Entertainment . Humor . Puns & Wordplay
Books . Subjects . Entertainment . Humor . Satire
Books . Subjects . Entertainment . Humor . General
Books . Subjects . Entertainment . Humor . Satire, General
Books . Subjects . Entertainment . Humor . General AAS
Books . Subjects . Literature & Fiction . World Literature . British . Humor
Books . Subjects . Reference . Words & Language . Vocabulary, Slang, & Word Lists
Books . Refinements . Binding (binding) . Paperback
Books . Refinements . Format (feature_browse-bin) . Printed Books