1. On Being Mysterious ; 2. From Anagrams to Cryptic Crosswords ; 3. Talking in Riddles ; 4. Ciphers and Codes ; 5. Biblical Secrets ; 6. Words of Power ; 7. Words to Avoid ; 8. Jargon, Slang, and 'Secret Languages' ; 9. The Everyday oblique ; 10. Elusive Allusions ; 11. Finale ; Appendix ; Select Bibliography ; Index
Barry J. Blake is Emeritus Professor of
Linguistics at La Trobe University. His books include Playing with
Words and All About Language.
'Secret Language' will delight anyone willing to while away a lazy afternoon, crossword in hand. Kerstin Hoge, Times Literary Supplement An enthralling survey. Jonathan Sale, The Independent What we have here is a wonderful weekend read. The Times A serious wolf of a book about linguistics wrapped in the sheep's clothing of frisky pleasure in the originality and versatility of words. The Times The subtitle is both accurate and cryptic, and provides only a hint of just how intriguing and diverting a book this isPart of the fascination of the book comes from noticing how often these modes of concealment resemble one another, or bleed togetherIt is good to have a book that gives you something to ponder without being ponderous itself. And it can be recommended in particular to anyone disposed to find language itself, as such, a source of pleasure. Scott McLemee, writing in nside Higher Education
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