101 American Superstitions

101 American Superstitions PDF Author: Harry Collis
Publisher: McGraw Hill Professional
ISBN: 9780844255996
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 138

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Book Description
A collection of 101 American superstitions, arranged within nine sections including body language, love and marriage, special days, and food for thought. Includes cartoon illustrations.

101 American Superstitions

101 American Superstitions PDF Author: Harry Collis
Publisher: McGraw Hill Professional
ISBN: 9780844255996
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 138

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Book Description
A collection of 101 American superstitions, arranged within nine sections including body language, love and marriage, special days, and food for thought. Includes cartoon illustrations.

101 American Customs

101 American Customs PDF Author: Joe Kohl
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education
ISBN: 9780844224077
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 130

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Book Description
What is sold at garage sales? Why does no one get wet at a bridal shower? For non-native speakers, here's a humorous approach to understanding common American customs and the expressions related to them. Customs are explained, one to a page, with conversational examples and whimsical cartoons. Topics range from age-old traditions, such as shaking hands and bachelor parties, to more modern American practices--coupon clipping, TV dinners, and tailgate parties.

101 American English Idioms

101 American English Idioms PDF Author: Harry Collis
Publisher: McGraw-Hill
ISBN: 9780844254463
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 130

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Book Description
An introduction to American colloquialisms through the use of explanatory dialogue or narrative.

Why People Believe Weird Things

Why People Believe Weird Things PDF Author: Michael Shermer
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
ISBN: 1429996765
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 382

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Book Description
"This sparkling book romps over the range of science and anti-science." --Jared Diamond, author of Guns, Germs, and Steel Revised and Expanded Edition. In this age of supposed scientific enlightenment, many people still believe in mind reading, past-life regression theory, New Age hokum, and alien abduction. A no-holds-barred assault on popular superstitions and prejudices, with more than 80,000 copies in print, Why People Believe Weird Things debunks these nonsensical claims and explores the very human reasons people find otherworldly phenomena, conspiracy theories, and cults so appealing. In an entirely new chapter, "Why Smart People Believe in Weird Things," Michael Shermer takes on science luminaries like physicist Frank Tippler and others, who hide their spiritual beliefs behind the trappings of science. Shermer, science historian and true crusader, also reveals the more dangerous side of such illogical thinking, including Holocaust denial, the recovered-memory movement, the satanic ritual abuse scare, and other modern crazes. Why People Believe Strange Things is an eye-opening resource for the most gullible among us and those who want to protect them.

101 American English Proverbs

101 American English Proverbs PDF Author: Harry Collis
Publisher: McGraw Hill Professional
ISBN: 9780844254128
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 140

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Book Description
This text presents in everyday English 101 commonly used proverbs, enabling students to use proverbs appropriately and encouraging cross-cultural understanding.

Superstition

Superstition PDF Author: Stuart Vyse
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192551329
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 175

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Book Description
Do you touch wood for luck, or avoid hotel rooms on floor thirteen? Would you cross the path of a black cat, or step under a ladder? Is breaking a mirror just an expensive waste of glass, or something rather more sinister? Despite the dominance of science in today's world, superstitious beliefs - both traditional and new - remain surprisingly popular. A recent survey of adults in the United States found that 33 percent believed that finding a penny was good luck, and 23 percent believed that the number seven was lucky. Where did these superstitions come from, and why do they persist today? This Very Short Introduction explores the nature and surprising history of superstition from antiquity to the present. For two millennia, superstition was a label derisively applied to foreign religions and unacceptable religious practices, and its primary purpose was used to separate groups and assert religious and social authority. After the Enlightenment, the superstition label was still used to define groups, but the new dividing line was between reason and unreason. Today, despite our apparent sophistication and technological advances, superstitious belief and behaviour remain widespread, and highly educated people are not immune. Stuart Vyse takes an exciting look at the varieties of popular superstitious beliefs today and the psychological reasons behind their continued existence, as well as the likely future course of superstition in our increasingly connected world. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Great American Folklore

Great American Folklore PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780880299022
Category : Folklore
Languages : en
Pages : 678

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Book Description


Luck

Luck PDF Author: Nicholas Rescher
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Pre
ISBN: 0822972271
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 250

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Book Description
Luck touches us all. "Why me?" we complain when things go wrong—though seldom when things go right. But although luck has a firm hold on all our lives, we seldom reflect on it in a cogent, concerted way. In Luck, one of our most eminent philosophers offers a realistic view of the nature and operation of luck to help us come to sensible terms with life in a chaotic world. Differentiating luck from fate (inexorable destiny) and fortune (mere chance), Nicholas Rescher weaves a colorful tapestry of historical examples, from the use of lots in the Old and New Testaments to Thomas Gataker’s treatise of 1619 on the great English lottery of 1612, from casino gambling to playing the stock market. Because we are creatures of limited knowledge who do and must make decisions in the light of incomplete information, Rescher argues, we are inevitably at the mercy of luck. It behooves us to learn more about it.

Folklore 101

Folklore 101 PDF Author: Jeana Jorgensen
Publisher: Dr Jeana Jorgensen LLC
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
When's the last time you got to pick a folklorist's brain? Did you know memes count as folklore? Or that folklorists assign numbers to fairy tales to keep track of them all? The field of folklore studies is over two centuries old, and it's full of amazing insights about human behavior, creativity, and community. Folklore studies is as interdisciplinary as it gets, squished somewhere between anthropology and linguistics and religious studies and comparative literature and more. It’s all about the informal human interactions, the million tiny acts and stories and beliefs and arts that function as social glue even if they seem beneath notice. Do traditional holiday foods have a deeper meaning? Yep. Same with folk music, ballads, proverbs, jokes, urban legends, body art, and a ton more genres covered in this book. Is the whole book as easy to read and irreverent as this description? Yep. This fun, accessible guide to the academic study of folklore packs in a college class's worth of material, from basic concepts and major folklore genres to special topics based on identity, fancy theories, and more. If you've always wanted to take a folklore class, or you're a writer or artist using folklore in your work, or you're just generally interested in the topic, this is the book for you! “This wonderfully insightful book introduces the reader to folklore with warmth and good humor. Students and others interested in folklore will love it!” - Libby Tucker, Distinguished Service Professor of English, Binghamton University and author of Haunted Halls: Ghostlore of American College Campuses “Dr. Jeana Jorgensen knows her stuff and, just as importantly, knows how to communicate it. Folklore 101 is a treasure trove of knowledge, the kind it would take years of college courses to accumulate yourself. If you're curious about academic folklore, this clear, engaging book is where you want to start." – Dr. Sara Cleto, co-founder of The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic

The Folklore of American Holidays

The Folklore of American Holidays PDF Author: Hennig Cohen
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 431

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Book Description