American English Compendium: A Portable Guide to the Idiosyncrasies, Subtleties, Technical Lingo, and Nooks and Crannies of American English, Fourth Edition

The American English Compendium is a fun way to explore the nuances of the English language―learn that a group of lions is called a pride; a group of whales, a pod; and a group of owls, a parliament. Distinguish between a quack and a shyster. Learn that “tabling a motion” in a U.S. court has an opposite meaning from the same term in England. This book picks up where other language dictionaries leave off: it includes common proverbs, a sampling of American English versus British English, popular American expressions and slang, acronyms, and varied information on everything from wildlife to currency. In this new edition, the staples have been updated and fresh chapters have been added, with information on pronunciation, oddball English words, and even some of the new Internet terminology, including Twitterspeak.

Marv Rubinstein is a nonagenarian who has worked in many professional fields. Among other things, he served as an adjunct professor at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California, teaching a course called “Quixotic English” to translation and interpretation students. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Japan Times, the Village Voice, and many other publications. He lives in New York.