Faux Pas?

Winner of the HRH Duke of Edinburgh English Speaking Union English Language Book Award 2006. An award-winning language book, this is a lively and engaging expose on the foreign words and phrases that populate our language. Each entry gives a translation of the expression, the language of origin, pronunciation, an insightful comment on usage, plus illuminating examples from the press. A Pretentiousness Index will help you avoid committing the ultimate faux pas(!). If you have ever been bamboozled by the use of a foreign word or phrase, or simply want to spice up your vocabulary with some well-chosen bons mots, then this is the book for you. Thousands of foreign terms have been absorbed into the English language from the everyday (kowtow) to the relatively obscure (auto-da-fe). Faux Pas? focuses on familiar terms and expressions as well as those that are new, curious or amusing.