http://www.marblesthebrainstore.com/rss/catalog/tag/tagName/Language Skills/ Sun, 26 May 2013 05:05:49 +0000 Zend_Feed en_US http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://www.marblesthebrainstore.com/baffle-gab-limited-edition Baffle Gab gives you 60 seconds, five random words, one line from pop culture and asks you to create a story that’ll bring you fame, fortune and the unbridled envy of your opponents. Well, maybe just that last one. This uproarious word skills game teaches young players about sentence structure while helping the young at heart think quickly and embrace their inner storyteller. Whatever your age, Baffle Gab will give your corpus callosum one heckuva workout. Which is just our quasi-intellectual way of saying your creative juices will be pumping like an artificially flavored juice box at an all-night discothèque.]]> Sun, 26 May 2013 05:05:49 +0000 http://www.marblesthebrainstore.com/build-your-power-vocabulary-paperback The average 30-year-old has a command of 30,000 words. The average 80-year-old? Only 10,000. Build Your Power Vocabulary can help you raise your number whether you’re a senior looking to slow an aging vocabulary, a foreigner learning English or a native English speaker out to become a world-class word slinger. This indispensible volume teaches the etymology of words, making it easier to learn and incorporate them in everyday speaking and writing. Build Your Power Vocabulary covers the latest slang and jargon and boasts exercises, word puzzles and quizzes to help you commit the lessons to memory and become a master at verbal Jiu-Jitsu.]]> Sun, 26 May 2013 05:05:49 +0000 http://www.marblesthebrainstore.com/buzz-word The best brain games skillfully blur the line between education and entertainment. Buzzword is one of those games and has the awards to prove it. This fast-paced game enhances memory, builds vocabulary and encourages teamwork under the guise of having fun. Here’s how it works: The game contains 400 Buzzword clues of various difficulty levels. So say the Buzzword is “ball.” Your team has 45 seconds to solve 10 clues that contain the word ball. Clues like: inflatable sand toy (beach ball), on top of spaghetti (meatball), a psychic stares into one (crystal ball). Whatever the clue, the whole family is sure to have a brain-boosting ball with the game of Buzzword! ]]> Sun, 26 May 2013 05:05:49 +0000 http://www.marblesthebrainstore.com/eats-shoots-leaves-paperback We have to confess that we’ve been known to engage in hour-long debates about the merits (or lack thereof) of the serial comma, the proper usage of the colon versus the semicolon and the all-too-common and egregious misuse of the apostrophe. So naturally, we’re suckers for Eats, Shoots & Leaves, an impassioned manifesto on punctuation by British journalist Lynne Truss. This witty, humorous and at times snotty book makes a case for the value of punctuation in preserving the nuances of language. Whether you’re a stickler for quotation marks or don’t know the difference between a dash and a hyphen, this smart book will have you thinking about punctuation like never before. ]]> Sun, 26 May 2013 05:05:49 +0000 http://www.marblesthebrainstore.com/i-never-metaphor-i-didn-t-like-hardcover I Never Metaphor I Didn’t Like is an extraordinary compilation of nearly 2,000 analogies, similes and metaphors from Dr. Mardy Grothe, quotation guru and author of Oxymoronica and Viva le Repartee. The book explains figurative language in a refreshingly down-to-earth way and contains chapters on wit, love, stage and screen, politics, sports and more. Featuring quotes from the likes of Aristotle, Maya Angelou, George Washington and Oprah Winfrey, I Never Metaphor I Didn’t Like will fill up your verbal repertoire and have the language centers of your brain buzzing like a swarm of bees at a honey convention.]]> Sun, 26 May 2013 05:05:49 +0000 http://www.marblesthebrainstore.com/things-that-make-us-sic For the record, we gladly break grammar rules for effect (not to be confused with “affect.”) What can we say? Sometimes a properly placed “ain’t” sounds much better than a grammatically proper “isn’t.” But we’re downright grammar curmudgeons when it comes to the erroneous use of words like “irregardless,” “expresso” and “disorientated.” In Things That Make Us (Sic), author Martha Brockenbrough gives us a snarky, irreverent guide packed with common grammar gaffes and tips for avoiding them. This helpful and hilarious book also contains letters to some infamous language offenders, including George W. Bush, David Hasselhoff and the Queen of England. ]]> Sun, 26 May 2013 05:05:49 +0000 http://www.marblesthebrainstore.com/viva-la-repartee-hardcover You have the uncanny ability to come up with the perfect retort or witty reply to bring your adversaries to their knees. Trouble is, your timing sucks. If you’ve ever come up with a brilliant comeback a little too late, then Viva la Repartee: Clever Comebacks and Witty Retorts is for you. Author Dr. Mardy Grothe assembled a collection of the most brilliantly composed (and perfectly timed) retorts, comebacks and wisecracks from Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain, Groucho Marx, Winston Churchill, Dolly Parton and more. So go ahead, dog-ear pages. Highlight your favorite passages. After reading this, you’ll never be left without a witty retort again.]]> Sun, 26 May 2013 05:05:49 +0000 http://www.marblesthebrainstore.com/official-scrabble-player-s-dictionary-4th-edition-paperback 4th Edition. The book that millions of SCRABBLE® players consider the only necessary resource. Ideal for recreational and school use. More than 100,000 playable two- to eight-letter words including 4,000 new entries. Includes variant spellings. Endorsed by the National SCRABBLE® Association.]]> Sun, 26 May 2013 05:05:49 +0000 http://www.marblesthebrainstore.com/nyt-crossword-puzzle-dictionary-paperback America's foremost crossword puzzle reference revised and expanded with thousands of new words, up-to-date factual references, including famous people and the latest geographical changes, bearing the trustworthy New York Times name. Now presented in a handy mass market size, this edition contains the full text of the hardcover, so puzzle fans looking for that exclusive clue won't miss a thing.]]> Sun, 26 May 2013 05:05:49 +0000