How To Sound Really Clever

Description

How to Sound Really Clever explains and illustrates over 600 words that can outfox us, such as 'condign', 'Zelig-like' and 'agitprop'. This is the sequel to the successful How to Sound Clever (2010) which taught you 600 words you really ought to know but haven't had the time to look up in the dictionary. Each entry features an etymological description as well as useful example phrases so that readers can quickly see the correct context for each word. Anecdotes and witty illustrations appear throughout to make this an entertaining book that will help readers to boost their vocabulary.

Promotion info

The sequel to How to Sound Clever, How to Sound Really Clever explains how to master 600 more words that you pretend to know but you really don't. Witty and entertaining, this book elucidates the meaning of tricky words such as 'adumbrate' or 'arabesque'.

Reviews

A very handy resource when you need to make those fine distinctions between the ego and the superego, or if you can't tell your exogenous from your endogenous or want to know what makes for a diegetic soundtrack in a film. How to Sound Really Clever is a teasing mixture of the half-familiar and the intriguingly obscure, and it's all done with a light touch. -- Philip Gooden Philip Gooden This witty book is an alphabetical list of less usual words and expressions which might impress others. Some are recondite, some are more familiar, with clear definitions and guidance on usage. I loved it. -- Dr Bernard Lamb, President of the Queen's English Society. Dr Bernard Lamb, President of the Queen's English Society.

Author description

Hubert van den Bergh has worked in the City for the past decade. A language enthusiast, he read French and Linguistics at Oxford University. He is the author of How to Sound Clever (A&C Black, 2010) and regularly contributes to The Telegraph.