More Frantic Semantics. Further Adventures In Modern English

Do you know your 'dotcoms' from your 'hubs' and 'portals', and your 'bugs' from your 'viruses'? Are your linguistic credentials 'pukka'? Do you long to be a language 'maven'? Or is it just too much 'hassle'? Keeping up with the ever-changing world of modern English can be a full-time occupation. Words gain new meanings; old words come back into fashion; new words are constantly invented; and foreign words suddenly gatecrash the party. The second volume of Frantic Semantics, gathered from the Saturday Telegraph Magazine column, is an entertaining guide to this brave new world. From the rapid rise of the nameless '@' to the story of 'Xmas', it is essential - and amusing - reading for all those who are occasionally baffled by our mother tongue.