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Schott’s Significa

An Unexpectedly Essential Guide to Language
Brief Description
Schott is back - and better than ever! From the mind that created the million-copy selling Schott's Original Miscellany comes Schott's Significa - an indispensable field guide to the hidden lore and language of our modern age. A language taxonomy for our curious times. Every day... Read More
Format: Hardback
$5000
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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Schott is back - and better than ever! From the mind that created the million-copy selling Schott's Original Miscellany comes Schott's Significa - an indispensable field guide to the hidden lore and language of our modern age.

A language taxonomy for our curious times. Every day we are surrounded by complex, private systems of knowledge and language - some we use ourselves, others we observe or overhear. Every trade, gang, clique, and profession develops a private lexicon of words, signs, and signals to bind its members closer while keeping strangers out.

From dog-walkers to spies, sommeliers to gym-goers, typography to graffiti, Schott's Significa decodes the secret languages that surround us. Packed with analysis exploring these taxonomies in all their fascinating detail, photographs and illustrations, this book is a dynamic evolution of the Miscellany concept for our curious times and the key to unlocking the hidden worlds around us.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780241736609

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 09 October 2025

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Michael Joseph Ltd

Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 35.0mm

Width: 170.0mm

Height: 251.0mm

Weight: 500g

Pages: 304

About the Author

Ben Schott is the creator and designer of the international bestseller Schott's Original Miscellany and its three sequels. He subsequently published a series of Schott's Almanacs, a collection of German neologisms - Schottenfreude - and two authorized homages to P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves and The King of Clubs and Jeeves and The Leap of Faith. Together, these books have sold some 2.5 million copies in 21 languages (including Braille). Ben has written for the Times, The Telegraph, The New York Times, The Spectator, The Guardian, Private Eye, Reader's Digest and The Paris Review, among others. In 2004 he won a D&AD Pencil for Creative Excellence, and in 2015 he won the James Beard award for humour.

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  • Schottenfreude
    Ever thought, 'There should be a German word for that'? Well, now there is. From the mind that created Schott's Original Miscellany comes a unique volume exploring the idiosyncrasies of the human condition...auf Deutsch. In which language but German could you construct le mot juste for a secret love of bad food, the inability to remember jokes, Sunday-afternoon depression, the...
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  • Schott's Original Miscellany
    Schott's Original Miscellany makes few claims to be exhaustive or even practical. It does, however, claim to be essential. It will afford you great wisdom in the morning, several conversational bons mots for the afternoon, and many an enlightened smile after dark. Where else can you find, packed on to one page, the thirteen principles of witchcraft, the structure of...
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