Magnificent Bastard

Author : John McWhorter
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 258 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2009-10-27
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9781592404940

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Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue by John McWhorter Pdf

A survey of the quirks and quandaries of the English language, focusing on our strange and wonderful grammar Why do we say “I am reading a catalog” instead of “I read a catalog”? Why do we say “do” at all? Is the way we speak a reflection of our cultural values? Delving into these provocative topics and more, Our Magnificent Bastard Language distills hundreds of years of fascinating lore into one lively history. Covering such turning points as the little-known Celtic and Welsh influences on English, the impact of the Viking raids and the Norman Conquest, and the Germanic invasions that started it all during the fifth century ad, John McWhorter narrates this colorful evolution with vigor. Drawing on revolutionary genetic and linguistic research as well as a cache of remarkable trivia about the origins of English words and syntax patterns, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue ultimately demonstrates the arbitrary, maddening nature of English— and its ironic simplicity due to its role as a streamlined lingua franca during the early formation of Britain. This is the book that language aficionados worldwide have been waiting for (and no, it’s not a sin to end a sentence with a preposition).

Author : Christina Lauren
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 320 pages
File Size : 51,5 Mb
Release : 2013-02-12
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781476730103

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Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren Pdf

An ambitious intern. A perfectionist executive. And a whole lot of name calling. Discover the story that garnered more than two million reads online. Whip-smart, hardworking, and on her way to an MBA, Chloe Mills has only one problem: her boss, Bennett Ryan. He’s exacting, blunt, inconsiderate—and completely irresistible. A Beautiful Bastard. Bennett has returned to Chicago from France to take a vital role in his family’s massive media business. He never expected that the assistant who’d been helping him from abroad was the gorgeous, innocently provocative—completely infuriating—creature he now has to see every day. Despite the rumors, he’s never been one for a workplace hookup. But Chloe’s so tempting he’s willing to bend the rules—or outright smash them—if it means he can have her. All over the office As their appetites for one another increase to a breaking point, Bennett and Chloe must decide exactly what they’re willing to lose in order to win each other. Originally only available online as The Office by tby789—and garnering over 2 million reads on fanfiction sites—Beautiful Bastard has been extensively updated for re-release.

Author : Rich Hall
Publisher : Abacus
Page : 224 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2010-03-04
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9780748118731

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Magnificent Bastards by Rich Hall Pdf

Comic genius Rich Hall introduces a series of magnificent bastards and lost souls in this hilarious collection of tall tales. Meet the man who vacuums bewildered prairie dogs out of their burrows; a frustrated werewolf who roams the streets of Soho getting mistaken for Brian Blessed; a smug carbon-neutral eco-couple; a teenage girl who invites 45,000 MySpace friends to a house party; the author of a business book entitled Highly Successful Secrets to Standing on a Corner Holding Up a Golf Sale Sign and a man whose attempts to teach softball to a group of indolent British advertising executives sparks an international crisis.

Author : Erwin Rommel,Gary Sheffield
Publisher : Greenhill Books
Page : 449 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2023-11-30
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781784389864

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Infantry Attacks by Erwin Rommel,Gary Sheffield Pdf

Legendary German general Erwin Rommel analyzes the tactics that led to his success. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel exerted an almost hypnotic influence not only over his own troops but also over the Allied soldiers of the Eighth Army in the Second World War. Even when the legend surrounding his invincibility was overturned at El Alamein, the aura surrounding Rommel himself remained unsullied. In this classic study of the art of war Rommel analyses the tactics that lay behind his success. First published in 1937 it quickly became a highly regarded military textbook, and also brought its author to the attention of Adolph Hitler. Rommel was to subsequently advance through the ranks to the high command in the Second World War. As a leader of a small unit in the First World War, he proved himself an aggressive and versatile commander with a reputation for using the battleground terrain to his own advantage, for gathering intelligence, and for seeking out and exploiting enemy weaknesses. Rommel graphically describes his own achievements, and those of his units, in the swift-moving battles on the Western Front, in the ensuing trench warfare, in the 1917 campaign in Romania, and in the pursuit across the Tagliamento and Piave rivers. This classic account seeks out the basis of his astonishing leadership skills, providing an indispensable guide to the art of war.

Author : Sam Kean
Publisher : Little, Brown
Page : 464 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 2019-07-09
Category : History
ISBN : 9780316381666

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The Bastard Brigade by Sam Kean Pdf

From New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean comes the gripping, untold story of a renegade group of scientists and spies determined to keep Adolf Hitler from obtaining the ultimate prize: a nuclear bomb. Scientists have always kept secrets. But rarely have the secrets been as vital as they were during World War II. In the middle of building an atomic bomb, the leaders of the Manhattan Project were alarmed to learn that Nazi Germany was far outpacing the Allies in nuclear weapons research. Hitler, with just a few pounds of uranium, would have the capability to reverse the entire D-Day operation and conquer Europe. So they assembled a rough and motley crew of geniuses -- dubbed the Alsos Mission -- and sent them careening into Axis territory to spy on, sabotage, and even assassinate members of Nazi Germany's feared Uranium Club. The details of the mission rival the finest spy thriller, but what makes this story sing is the incredible cast of characters -- both heroes and rogues alike -- including: Moe Bergm, the major league catcher who abandoned the game for a career as a multilingual international spy; the strangest fellow to ever play professional baseball. Werner Heisenberg, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist credited as the discoverer of quantum mechanics; a key contributor to the Nazi's atomic bomb project and the primary target of the Alsos mission. Colonel Boris Pash, a high school science teacher and veteran of the Russian Revolution who fled the Soviet Union with a deep disdain for Communists and who later led the Alsos mission. Joe Kennedy Jr., the charismatic, thrill-seeking older brother of JFK whose need for adventure led him to volunteer for the most dangerous missions the Navy had to offer. Samuel Goudsmit, a washed-up physics prodigy who spent his life hunting Nazi scientists -- and his parents, who had been swept into a concentration camp -- across the globe. Irène and Frederic Joliot-Curie, a physics Nobel-Prize winning power couple who used their unassuming status as scientists to become active members of the resistance. Thrust into the dark world of international espionage, these scientists and soldiers played a vital and largely untold role in turning back one of the darkest tides in human history.

Author : Gerald R. Gems
Publisher : Saint Johann Press
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 48,6 Mb
Release : 2006
Category : Vietnam War, 1961-1975
ISBN : 1878282395

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Viet Nam Vignettes by Gerald R. Gems Pdf

Author : Derek Bickerton
Publisher : Hill and Wang
Page : 288 pages
File Size : 40,5 Mb
Release : 2008-03-04
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9781429930307

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Bastard Tongues by Derek Bickerton Pdf

Why Do Isolated Creole Languages Tend to Have Similar Grammatical Structures? Bastard Tongues is an exciting, firsthand story of scientific discovery in an area of research close to the heart of what it means to be human—what language is, how it works, and how it passes from generation to generation, even where historical accidents have made normal transmission almost impossible. The story focuses on languages so low in the pecking order that many people don't regard them as languages at all—Creole languages spoken by descendants of slaves and indentured laborers in plantation colonies all over the world. The story is told by Derek Bickerton, who has spent more than thirty years researching these languages on four continents and developing a controversial theory that explains why they are so similar to one another. A published novelist, Bickerton (once described as "part scholar, part swashbuckling man of action") does not present his findings in the usual dry academic manner. Instead, you become a companion on his journey of discovery. You learn things as he learned them, share his disappointments and triumphs, explore the exotic locales where he worked, and meet the colorful characters he encountered along the way. The result is a unique blend of memoir, travelogue, history, and linguistics primer, appealing to anyone who has ever wondered how languages grow or what it's like to search the world for new knowledge.

Author : Bill Finger,Dennis O'Neil
Publisher : DC
Page : 406 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 2014-07-22
Category : Comics & Graphic Novels
ISBN : 9781401252083

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The Joker: A Celebration of 75 Years by Bill Finger,Dennis O'Neil Pdf

Celebrating Batman and Joker's seventy-five years as cultural icons, this Joker Anthology collects stories from the characters seven decades as the greatest villain in comics. Featuring stories from BATMAN #1, 5, 25, 32, 85, 163, 251, 427, BATMAN #15 (THE NEW 52), DETECTIVE COMICS #64, 168, 180, 475, 476, 726, 741, 826, DETECTIVE COMICS #1 (THE NEW 52), WORLD'S FINEST COMICS #61, SUPERMAN #9 and BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #66.

Author : John McWhorter
Publisher : Henry Holt and Company
Page : 288 pages
File Size : 47,6 Mb
Release : 2016-09-06
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9781627794732

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Words on the Move by John McWhorter Pdf

A bestselling linguist takes us on a lively tour of how the English language is evolving before our eyes -- and why we should embrace this transformation and not fight it Language is always changing -- but we tend not to like it. We understand that new words must be created for new things, but the way English is spoken today rubs many of us the wrong way. Whether it’s the use of literally to mean “figuratively” rather than “by the letter,” or the way young people use LOL and like, or business jargon like What’s the ask? -- it often seems as if the language is deteriorating before our eyes. But the truth is different and a lot less scary, as John McWhorter shows in this delightful and eye-opening exploration of how English has always been in motion and continues to evolve today. Drawing examples from everyday life and employing a generous helping of humor, he shows that these shifts are a natural process common to all languages, and that we should embrace and appreciate these changes, not condemn them. Words on the Move opens our eyes to the surprising backstories to the words and expressions we use every day. Did you know that silly once meant “blessed”? Or that ought was the original past tense of owe? Or that the suffix -ly in adverbs is actually a remnant of the word like? And have you ever wondered why some people from New Orleans sound as if they come from Brooklyn? McWhorter encourages us to marvel at the dynamism and resilience of the English language, and his book offers a lively journey through which we discover that words are ever on the move and our lives are all the richer for it.

Author : Lili Valente
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 2016-04-17
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1532783752

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Magnificent Bastard by Lili Valente Pdf

"Magnificently hot, and wonderfully written! This book is a definite MUST READ!" -5 STARS from Beneath the Covers Blog "THE must read standalone of the year!" -Bestselling author Lacey Black F*ck Prince Charming. Sometimes, you need a Magnificent Bastard. Face it, ladies: love sucks and then you cry...while your ex rides off into the sunset banging your best friend. But why let a break-up end in tears when it can end with sweet revenge? Enter Magnificent Bastard Consulting and me, chief executive bastard. I've got it all-looks, brains, a heart of gold, and the killer instinct guaran-damn-teed to make your ex regret the day he said goodbye. With the help of my virtual assistant, I've built an empire giving broken-hearted women the vengeance they deserve, while keeping myself far from the front lines of the heart. Life is a bowl of cherries, until my virtual assistant shows up on my real doorstep for the first time, begging for a Magnificent Bastard intervention of her own. Damn... She's a bona fide sex kitten. I pride myself on being a true pro, but pretending to be her lover soon leads to giving it to her good, hard, fast, and up against the wall. And somewhere between getting balls deep in my sweet and sexy assistant and watching her ex beg for a second chance, I break every last one of my damn rules-professional and personal. So what's my next move? Fight for the girl who makes me want to get up on a white horse and ride to her rescue, or stay a Magnificent Bastard to the end? Warning: MAGNIFICENT BASTARD is a stand-alone erotic romance told from the hero's point of view. No cliffhanger. Lots of dirty talk.

Author : J. C. Hartcarver
Publisher : Sufferborn
Page : 382 pages
File Size : 50,8 Mb
Release : 2019-10-19
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 0998210447

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Sufferborn by J. C. Hartcarver Pdf

The beginning of a romantic fantasy series in which a young novice in a convent, named Kalea, falls in love with Dorhen, a mysterious elf from the forest. While she worries about her guilt over their precarious relationship, a sinister plot unfolds in her region, bringing a horde of vicious sorcerers to kidnap her fellow novices. Amidst the chaos, Dorhen breaks in to help and disappears in the confusion. Being the only one to escape the raid, Kalea sets out to rescue the elf she loves and her novice sisters. But Dorhen's dark past has caught up with him, and his future is bleak.

Author : Mark Huffman
Publisher : CreateSpace
Page : 240 pages
File Size : 54,8 Mb
Release : 2013-12-10
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 1492769444

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One Magnificent Bastard by Mark Huffman Pdf

Bill Weise didn't plan on a career in the United States Marine Corps. He planned to become a lawyer. But life has a funny way of taking you to places you never expect, serving up experiences that change your life and your outlook forever. From his early life in a working class neighborhood in South Philadelphia during the Great Depression to battlefields in Vietnam to the halls of the Pentagon, Bill Weise was guided by core values he gained from his parents, his faith, and his community. Those values he brought to the Marine Corps, as well as a creative mind and a sense of daring that made him a great leader in both war and peace. Throughout his life Bill Weise has been presented with challenges. Some were economic, some were military and some were deeply personal. How he met and overcame these challenges provides a true measure of him as a man. Everything in Bill's life seemed to prepare him for tests. He always pushed himself and demanded the same of others. The story of Bill Weise is an American story. It contains lessons for today's military leaders and inspiration for all.

Author : John McWhorter
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 242 pages
File Size : 49,6 Mb
Release : 2013-02-12
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9781101644454

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What Language Is by John McWhorter Pdf

New York Times bestselling author and renowned linguist, John McWhorter, explores the complicated and fascinating world of languages. From Standard English to Black English; obscure tongues only spoken by a few thousand people in the world to the big ones like Mandarin - What Language Is celebrates the history and curiosities of languages around the world and smashes our assumptions about "correct" grammar. An eye-opening tour for all language lovers, What Language Is offers a fascinating new perspective on the way humans communicate. From vanishing languages spoken by a few hundred people to major tongues like Chinese, with copious revelations about the hodgepodge nature of English, John McWhorter shows readers how to see and hear languages as a linguist does. Packed with Big Ideas about language alongside wonderful trivia, What Language Is explains how languages across the globe (the Queen's English and Surinam creoles alike) originate, evolve, multiply, and divide. Raising provocative questions about what qualifies as a language (so-called slang does have structured grammar), McWhorter also takes readers on a marvelous journey through time and place-from Persian to the languages of Sri Lanka- to deliver a feast of facts about the wonders of human linguistic expression.

Author : Michael W. Covel
Publisher : FT Press
Page : 467 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2009
Category : Investments
ISBN : 9780137020188

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Trend Following by Michael W. Covel Pdf

Discover the investment strategy that works in any market. The one strategy that works in up and down markets, good times and bad.

Author : Robert McCrum,William Cran,Robert MacNeil
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 496 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 1993-06-30
Category : English language
ISBN : 0571171427

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Story of English by Robert McCrum,William Cran,Robert MacNeil Pdf