Blog Archives
Naughty bits, A K Grant
A Dictionary of Modern New Zealand Slang ed Harry Orsman Oxford University Press, $24.95, ISBN 0 19 558408 2 Harry Orsman achieved semi-divine status among New Zealand scholars with the publication of his highly-acclaimed Dictionary of New Zealand English. But…
Mapping the citadel, Lydia Wevers
The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature in English Roger Robinson and Nelson Wattie (eds) Oxford University Press, $79.95 ISBN 0 19558348 5 The publication of this book should have been timed for the millennium. If there is going to…
Tagged with: Issue 36, Lydia Wevers, Nelson Wattie, Oxford University Press, Roger Robinson
Posted in Language, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in Language, Non-fiction, Review
Culling the China disease, Chris Elder
The Foreign Expert: A New Zealand Journalist in China Mervyn Cull Hazard Press $24.95 ISBN 1 877161 03 9 China’s English-language press is full of the unexpected. It ranges from unlooked-for revelations (my favourite is a story which read, from…
Tagged with: Chris Elder, Hazard Press, Issue 35, Mervyn Cull
Posted in Language, Media, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in Language, Media, Non-fiction, Review
Signing on, Rachel Locker McKee
A Dictionary of New Zealand Sign Language Graeme Kennedy (ed) Auckland University Press with Bridget Williams Books $99.95 ISBN 1 86940164 6 A national taonga has been quietly hidden from most people’s view until the recent arrival on booksellers’ shelves…
Tagged with: Auckland University Press, Bridget Williams Books, Graeme Kennedy, Issue 34, Rachel McKee
Posted in Language, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in Language, Non-fiction, Review
When the conversation lollies run out, Patrick Evans
The Dictionary of New Zealand English: New Zealand words and their origins ed H W Orsman Oxford University Press, $150.00, ISBN 0 19 558347 7 It is nearly 20 years since I and a number of fellow conference-goers spent an…
Tagged with: H W Orsman, Issue 31, Patrick Evans, Spring 1997
Posted in Language, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in Language, Non-fiction, Review
The logology of aa to zz, Howard Warner
The Dictionary of Two‑Letter Words in English Jeff Grant Glenda Foster, no price given, no ISBN Available from the author, Waipatu Settlement Road, RD2, Hastings Did you know that the American spelling “ax” existed in English long before “axe” did?…
Tagged with: Glenda Foster, Howard Warner, Issue 22, Jeff Grant
Posted in Language, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in Language, Non-fiction, Review
Exploding the myths of newzilnspeak, David Britain
Kiwitalk: Sociolinguistics and New Zealand Society Donn Bayard Dunmore Press, $39.95 ISBN 0 86469 220 X Among the many revolutions that took place in New Zealand in the 1980s, one was sociolinguistic. Twenty years ago, very little had been written…
Tagged with: David Britain, Donn Bayard, Dunmore Press, Issue 18, Winter 1995
Posted in Language, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology
Posted in Language, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology
Kei Te Mātāwai Te Tikanga, Charles Royal
Te Mātāwai, Nā Hepora Young o Te Arawā ēnei pukapuka i whakahaere Hepora Young Tuatahi: Te Tira Ahu Iwi/ Daphne Brasell Associates, $12.95, Tuarua: Te Tira Ahu Iwi/ Huia, $14.95, Tuatoru: Te Puni Kōkiri/ Huia, $14.95, Tuawhā: Te Puni Kōkiri/…
Tagged with: Autumn 1993, Charles Royal, Daphne Brasell Associates Press, Huia, Issue 8, Te Puni Kōkiri
Posted in Language, Māori, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in Language, Māori, Non-fiction, Review
Keeping the specs clean, Janet Holmes
Posted in Comment, Language