Slang & Idioms

British English A to Zed is the most comprehensive guide to everyday English as it is spoken on both sides of the Atlantic. No longer will you be left confused when someone asks to borrow your biro (ballpoint pen) or your housewife (sewing kit). This updated and revised edition includes more than 5... More

Modern British Slang Dictionary is a handy guide to the slang expressions of contemporary British English. This up-to-date volume defines and explains nearly 2,000 slang terms and phrases, from colorful rhyming slang (bees and honey for "money") and underworld slang to the slang of everyday, informa... More

Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary offers detailed treatment of today's language. Based on the evidence from the Bank of English corpus, which now contains over 524 million words, the fifth edition contains the most important new words and meanings which have come into the languag... More

Give yourself a head start. Collins International Editions make Collins' world-famous dictionaries available at highly affordable prices. The dictionaries are completely up to date, reliable and authoritative, as well as exceptionally easy to use, and meet the needs of users at school, college, univ... More

The Collins COBUILD Student's Dictionary Plus Grammar offers up-to-date coverage of today's language plus a full-length English Grammar-an invaluable combination for learners of English.... More

The first guide to the most common expletives, euphemisms, and obscenities in the French language covers insults (both vulgar and non-vulgar), various uses for popular obscenities, unintentional obscenities, gestures, and criminal slang. Includes a Glossary of English definitions for all of the Fren... More

Now for the first time, this important reference is available in paperback. Originally published in 1984, this dictionary was published posthumously but had been worked upon by Partridge until six weeks before his death. As the last edition to feature original work by Partridge himself, its place in... More

You' ve mastered Italian slang, conquered popular idioms, yet still feel like an outsider. The reason is simple. You haven' t discovered the third secret to understanding everyday Italian: popular expletives and obscenities- those back-alley words and phrases constantly used in movies, books, and co... More

Are you a beaver cleaver or the office bike? Would you rather pack fudge or munch carpet? Do you content yourself with paddling the pickle as you???re still a cherry boy? Sex Slang not only gives you 3,000 new words to talk about your favourite pastimes but will also open your eyes to practices you ... More

'The Cambridge Gazetteer' will enlarge and inform your sense of history. It will answer questions about places you have heard of but want to know more about. Containing over 12,000 entries and based on the latest census data and a wide range of economic, cultural, historical, and topographical sourc... More

In the Know includes 40 four-page units that deal with idioms in contexts such as communicating, money, and relationships; idioms that describe concepts such as danger, honesty, and success; and idioms based on key words such as colors and parts of the body. Based on extensive research in the Cambri... More

Here, John Ayto has brought together over 10,000 slang words and phrases common to 20th-century English, to provide a comprehensive and highly engaging guide to the most outspoken corner of our language. Unlike most such dictionaries, this volume is organized thematically, with slang words gathered ... More