Thursday 6 September 2007

Words Fail Me

A witty and imaginative look at the contradictions and inconsistencies in the English language. Designer and typographer Teresa Monachino demands a second look at hidden meaning in a superficially simple word. The book 'Words Fail Me' uses clever visual representations to create an entertaining and beautifully presented look at nonsense within the English language.



Why is abbreviation such a long word? Does monosyllabic really need five syllables? Why is lisp so hard to say if you have one? 'A book that gently subverts and questions the art of expression...filled with gentle humour and genuinely interesting anachronisms of the English language, all set in Monachino's immaculate typography.'(Design Week)

Did you know that the letters of HONESTLY can be rearranged to read ON THE SLY? A FUNERAL is also REAL FUN and SANTA can easily be turned into SATAN?

The concept of the book was inspired by Monochino's Sicilian mothers uncertain grasp of the English language "In my attempts to explain the often extreme differences in meaning between similar-looking words I often found myself equally befuddled. English hoodwinks us into believing one thing while concealing something quite different. All is not what it seems. This book is my attempt to bring these illogical ideas to the fore, not as an academic study of our language, but as a visual treat.”




1 comment:

Holly Mee said...

Funnily enough im waiting for my copy to arrive from amazon over the next few days. Sounds like a pretty interesting read on note of the english language another example is
Plough and Cow both sound the same and spelt totally different. Good luck t those learning it, i do not know how they grasp it.