Foreword: English Can Be Fun!
That Sounds Funny …
Funny-Sounding Words – Elephant’s at the Rubbity: Rhyming Slang – “Hasta luego cocodrilo” – Tongue Twisters – Wishy-Washy, Arty-Farty – Smash, Bang, Crash, Plop! – Cows Moo, Do You?
Questionable Quotes
Famous Last Words – Bushisms – More Crazy Things People Have Said – Headlines – Bumper Stickers – Silly Signage – Classified Ads – Church Bulletin Typos – Accident Reports – Company Condoms – Pearls of Wisdom – Murphy’s Law
Translations and Other Misunderstandings
Helpful Information for English-Speaking Tourists … – F---Ing Kinky – Marketing Troubles
Colourful Language
Colours – Colour Your World with Idioms – Drunk As a Skunk? No. Sick As a Dog! – Welches Tier gehört zu dir? – Animal Idioms – Collective Nouns – Tidbits – Common Yiddish Words – Let’s Play Ball – Colourful Comparisons … Aussie Style
Let’s Get Silly
Books That Were Never Written – Kids’ Riddles + Jokes – Slightly More Sophisticated …
Being Indirect
Euphemisms – Be Careful What You Say
Word Play
Anagrams – Spoonerisms – That’s a Pun, Son … – “Can you give me the … ahh, ummm, the …?” – Playful Punctuation – Persuasive Punctuation – A Proverb for Every Occasion …
A Poem
The English Language
Rules for Writers – Conjugating Very Irregular Verbs – Ghoti and Chips? – I Am So Gruntled! – X Marks the Spot – Proposals for English Language Reform – Making Simple Things Complicated – How to Say Nothing at All, yet Sound Competent – What Academic Writing Really Means …
Virtual Language
Spelling and Texting – The Internet
Games
For Further Fun
Editorische Notiz