Semantricks: A Dictionary of Words You Thought You Knew - Softcover

Gediman, Lewis M.; DeNicola, Nino; Gediman, Paul; Laudor, Michael B.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312377827 ISBN 13: 9780312377823

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin, 2008

Synopsis

At last, a book for the American Idle. Here is a punny new dictionary of inventive definitions of real words.

Acrimony: Spousal support payments following bitter divorce
Friction: Novel that rubs you the wrong wayNegligence: Woman's forgotten dressing gownZinfandel: Heathen wine Ranging from the merely fetched (Spaniel: Iberian canine) to the far-fetched (Buccaneer: Piracy in corn pricing) to the neurologically suspect (Giraffe: Very tall spotted decanter), Semantricks will surprise, delight, and even stump the most word-wary pundits. Suffix it to say, you'll never look at diphthong the same way again.

About this title

About the Author

Lewis M. Gediman is president of The Gediman Research Group, Inc. and a consulting affiliate of Dialogue Resource, Inc. – both marketing research and consulting firms.  He lives and, when he can’t avoid it, works in Stamford, Connecticut, where he takes frequent long walks and occasional umbrage.  His breadth of vision and depth of thinking is perhaps best expressed in the guiding principle:  “I never met a word I couldn’t distort.”  A dedicated fitness buff, he enjoys watching people exercise and eat sensibly.

Nino DeNicola, a longtime, if reluctant, colleague of Lew Gediman is president of Dialogue Resource, Inc. in Charlotte, North Carolina.  His training in clinical psychology and years of experience leading Synectics-inspired innovation workshops have been of no use whatsoever in his contributions to this book. While English is not his first language, and he has trouble with even the most rudimentary of phrases, he welcomes reader comments and feedback.

Though not quick to admit it, Paul Gediman is the son of Lewis M.  He was a book reviewer and book review editor before entering the field of marketing communications.  He lives in Ann Arbor, where his hobbies include narrative embroidery and faulty logic.

Michael B. Laudor has both undergraduate and law degrees from Yale, either of which alone you might think would keep a person from participating in this book.  He lives in Orange County, New York.

Review

"Sharpen your pun cells. Lewis Gediman and his pun pals have created a fictionary of daffynitions that will exercise your mind's muscles ("mollusks") and sinews ("misbehaving female sheep").---Richard Lederer, author of Anguished English and Get Thee to a Punnery

Edition details

• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0312377827
• ISBN 13: 9780312377823
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 144