Take a second look at the cover of this book—this time, turn it upside down. The title, Wordplay, is an ambigram, which means you will be able to read it both right side up and upside down. You may be familiar with the John Langdon’s ambigrams from Dan Brown’s bestseller Angels & Demons (see pages 186 and 188 of Wordplay), but if this is your first experience with the art of the ambigram, prepare to be dazzled! This lovely updated edition of the classic collection of ambigrams features a section of full-color ambigrams and dozens of stunning, mind-bending examples of this cryptic art form. Each strikingly beautiful and arresting illustration is accompanied by a short essay—sometimes serious, sometimes witty—to delight your brain as much as your eyes. Taken together, the art and the essays show how the very shape of letters can change our idea of words and their meanings. As Dan Brown says in the Foreword of this revised edition, John Langdon brilliantly rearranges the familiar, casting it in a new light. Both playful and profound, Wordplay will challenge you to take a second look at your world.

In the funny, smart mold of The Day the Crayons Quit, this sneaky lesson about the parts of speech is also a delightful story about playground competition and new friends. When the parts of speech gather on the playground, Verb is always the star. She can climb! She can frolic! She can DO anything! Her friends Adjective, Adverb, and Interjection all watch admiringly. ("WOW!" says Interjection.)Then Noun comes along -- and Noun can BE anything. A person! A place! Even a thing! ("PRETTY!" says Interjection.) The other parts of speech are fascinated by this new kid, and Verb doesn't like it one bit.

A true pioneer in the field of recreational mathematics, Martin Gardner has been wrangling words for decades, and his latest opus is nothing short of extraordinary. From amazing anagrams and silly spoonerisms to alphamagic squares and cryptarithms, this mind-bending compendium is chock-full of whimsical forms of wordplay that are sure to have sesquipedalian scholars and limber-minded logophiles racking their brains in delight.

Why do certain words make us blush or wince? Why do men and women really speak different languages? Why do nursery rhymes in vastly different societies possess similar rhyme and rhythm patterns? What do slang, riddles and puns secretly have in common? This erudite yet irresistibly readable book examines the game of language: its players, strategies, and hidden rules. Drawing on the most fascinating linguistic studies—and touching on everything from the Marx Brothers to linguistic sexism, from the phenomenon of glossolalia to Apache names for automobile parts—Word Play shows what really happens when people talk, no matter what language they happen to be using.

I could have done a much better job of empowering my students with language had I had this book as a young teacher. - Carol Ann Tomlinson Author of The Differentiated Classroom Vocabulary is key - to comprehension, to deep academic understanding, to communication. But with so many words and so little instructional time, how can teachers ensure that students do more than merely memorize word lists? That they make words their own and use them well in all their reading, writing, and speaking activities? In Word Play, Sandra Whitaker, a National Board Certified Teacher, leads the way to effective, meaningful vocabulary instruction that helps students in every subject area. With Word Play you'll teach so that students don't just what know what words mean, but how they convey meaning and what their appropriate uses are. Three aspects of learning must work together for successful vocabulary instruction, and Whitaker details what they are and how to teach them: Morphemic structure - where words come from, how they are formed, and how they can be changed to form new words Conceptual meaning makers - the small but important group of context-specific terms that support meaning making within assigned texts but are rarely used outside those texts Academic vocabulary - cross-discipline and discipline-specific words that support learning by helping students determine meanings in relation to the subjects they study and use precise language to communicate their thinking. Whitaker makes the theoretical practical, presenting the theory and research behind high-quality instruction, then following up with engaging, interesting ways for students to practice all three aspects of vocabulary. You'll replace monotonous memorization with enjoyable activities that capitalize on adolescents' natural interest in words and language. Illustrating her strategies with student samples and stories from real classrooms, Whitaker even presents ideas for differentiation that make vocabulary instruction accessible for all students. Give the gift of language. Put away the boring word lists and teach in ways that promote usage, not memorization. You'll encourage a deeper understanding of texts across the curriculum and provide avenues for students to express their thinking more precisely. Put joy into words with Word Play.

This volume focuses on realisations of wordplay in different cultures and social and historical contexts, and brings together various research traditions of approaching wordplay. Together with the volume DWP 7, it assembles selected papers presented at the interdisciplinary conference The Dynamics of Wordplay / La dynamique du jeu de mots (Trier, 2016) and stresses the inherent dynamicity of wordplay and wordplay research.

Which words are hardest to rhyme? What word is longer than any other...or shorter? Do you know what a tautonym is or a "head 'n' tail"? if you never thought that language could provide hours of entertainment, these "games" will definitely change your mind -- and sharpen your brain!