The Cabinet Of Calm

From 'meliorism' to 'stound', 'carpe noctem' to 'opsimathy', these beguiling words will delight and inspire, soothing your soul and easing your mind.

Open The Cabinet of Linguistic Curiosities and you’ll find both a word and a day to remember, every day of the year. Each day has its own dedicated entry, on which a curious or notable event—and an equally curious or notable word—are explored. On the day on which flirting was banned in New York City, for instance, you’ll discover why to “sheep’s-eye” someone once meant to look at them amorously. On the day on which a disillusioned San Franciscan declared himself Emperor of the United States, you’ll find the word “mamamouchi,” a term for people who consider themselves more important than they truly are. And on the day on which George Frideric Handel completed his 259-page Messiah after twenty-four days of frenzied work, you’ll see why a French loanword, literally meaning “a small wooden barrow,” is used to refer to an intense period of work undertaken to meet a deadline. The English language is vast enough to supply us with a word for every occasion—and this linguistic “wunderkammer” is here to prove precisely that. So whatever date this book has found its way into your hands, there’s an entire year’s worth of linguistic curiosities waiting to be found.

THE NO. 1 LADIES’ DETECTIVE AGENCY - Book 5 Fans around the world adore the best-selling No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series and its proprietor, Precious Ramotswe, Botswana’s premier lady detective. In this charming series, Mma Ramotswe—with help from her loyal associate, Grace Makutsi—navigates her cases and her personal life with wisdom, good humor, and the occasional cup of tea. Still engaged to the estimable Mr J.L.B. Matekoni, Mma Ramotswe understands that she should not put too much pressure on him, as he has other concerns, especially a hair-raising request from the ever persuasive Mma Potokwane, matron of the orphan farm. Besides Mma Ramotswe herself has weighty matters on her mind. She has been approached by a wealthy lady to check up on several suitors. Are these men interested in the lady or just her money? This may be a difficult case, but it's just the kind of problem Mma Ramotswe likes and she is, as we know, a very intuitive lady.

From aardvark to zenzizenzizenzic, Word Drops collects a thousand obscure words and language facts in one fascinating chain of word associations. Did you know, for example, that scandal derives from the Latin for "stumbling block" and originally described a trap for a wild animal? In nineteenth-century slang a wolf trap was a corrupt casino. Casino means "little house" in Italian. Roulette means "little wheel" in French. A wheeler is someone who attends auctions to bid on items merely to increase their sale price. Such links take readers on an unexpected journey through linguistic oddities. Inspired by the popular @HaggardHawks Twitter account, Word Drops also uses an intriguing series of annotations to add background and historical context on everything from Anglo-Saxon cures for insanity to Samuel Pepys's cure for a hangover. This unique book will delight anyone who loves language, etymology, and word games. Not for sale in the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, or Canada

When the ball dropped at midnight on January 1, 2020, if you told any of us the world would be turned upside down in just a few short months by a virus, I think we all would have looked at you like you were crazy. Yet, more and more, we started hearing the whisperings of a Novel Coronavirus that was contained in China. Fast forward to March 20, 2020, when Governor Cuomo signed the "New York State on PAUSE" Executive Order, in an attempt to assure uniform safety for the state. Within this order, non-essential businesses statewide had to close all in-office personnel functions effective immediately, and all non-essential gatherings of individuals of any size for any reason were temporarily banned."Stay Calm... It's only a few weeks," we thought. "It's a 14-day quarantine after all. How much longer than that could we be locked down?"Well the New York Pause lasted for months, with restrictions finally easing in June 2020. It was at that time that Mike Bloomfield knew that he wanted to gather a group of Staten Island Small Business Owners together to create a book that discussed the importance of staying calm during a crisis. A crisis doesn't have to mean "the end." A crisis, although tough, can absolutely open up new doors and even make your business stronger if you allow yourself to adapt and pivot as needed!In this book, you will hear from 12 successful business owners who did just that; they 'stayed calm' and used various crises to adapt and come out stronger than they were before. At the time of publishing, the world is seeing a second wave take hold and there are talks of additional lockdowns being used to contain the virus. So, while there is a light at the end of the tunnel with news of vaccines that are very promising, there is no better time than now to read this book and most of all STAY CALM!

Come along with Maria and her Mama as they make cookies shaped like yoga, and then practice each pose together! In this sweet and simple rhyming story, your child will explore 10 foundational yoga poses as well as quick and effective mindfulness techniques to help in times of worry or stress. Cookie Doughga: A Book about yoga, mindfulness, and cookies! empowers children to observe their mind, and use their body as a tool for taking charge of their emotions. Whether they're jumping like a frog, soaring in an airplane, or dozing like a sleepy mouse, each page engages a child's senses, joy, and wonder. This story is great for all ages, but perfect for children ages 3-8.

Rory, Callum and Boo are still reeling from a series of tragic events, while new dangers lurk around the city from Jane and her nefarious organization

Tame anxiety and take back control of your life with this "genius" (Cosmopolitan) no-f*cks-given guide from the bestselling author of The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck and Get Your Sh*t Together. Do you spend more time worrying about problems than solving them? Do you let unexpected difficulties ruin your day and do "what ifs" keep you up at night? Sounds like you need to Calm the F*ck Down. Just because things are falling apart doesn't mean YOU can't pull it together. Whether you're stressed about sh*t that hasn't happened yet or freaked out about sh*t that already has, the NoWorries method from "anti-guru" Sarah Knight helps you curb the anxiety and overthinking that's making everything worse. Calm the F*ck Down explains: The Four Faces of Freaking Out—and their Flipsides How to accept what you can't control Productive Helpful Effective Worrying (PHEW) The Three Principles of Dealing With It And much more! Find even more calm with the Calm the F*ck Down Journal.

From author and speaker Melanie Dale comes a laugh-out-loud hilarious parenting book that teaches you how to dial back the stress of raising children with the simple premise that we all just need to lighten up a little bit. Most of us thought we’d be amazing parents—and then we had kids. Now we spend what little free time we have comparing ourselves to other parents, comparing our kids to other kids, and panicking that everyone else is nailing it except us. Between constant social media postings to conflicting advice found in parenting books, we often have no choice but to freak out. But there is another way. We all just need to calm the h*ck down. Melanie Dale—a special needs parent, adoptive parent, in vitro parent, and reluctant cheer mom—believes we are all putting too much pressure on ourselves and our kids to be perfect. Instead, she argues, we need to take a step back so we can actually enjoy this journey called parenting. Calm the H*ck Down is filled with stories from Melanie’s own life, as well as real-life research for learning how to lighten up about every aspect of parenting—from poopy diapers and germs to family vacations and adolescent angst. She also discusses the pressure to knock it all out of the Pinterest park, the challenge of instilling some kind of faith into your kids, and worrying about their future while still trying to live in the present. Infused with quirky humor, profound insight, and accessible advice, Calm the H*ck Down gives you the permission to finally relax and enjoy this ridiculous thing we do called parenting.

What makes a place so memorable that it survives forever in a word? In this captivating round-the-world tour, Paul Anthony Jones acts as your guide through the intriguing stories of how eighty places became immortalized in the English language. You’ll discover why the origins of turkeys, limericks, Brazil nuts, and Panama hats aren’t quite as straightforward as you might presume. If you’ve never heard of the tiny Czech mining town of Jáchymov—or Joachimsthal, as it was known until the late 1800s—you’re not alone, which makes its claim to fame as the origin of the word “dollar” all the more extraordinary. The story of how the Great Dane isn’t all that Danish makes the list, as does the Jordanian mountain whose name has become a byword for a tantalizing glimpse. We’ll also find out what the Philippines has given to your office inbox, what Alaska has given to your liquor cabinet, and how a speech given by a bumbling North Carolinian gave us a word for impenetrable nonsense. Surprising, entertaining, and illuminating, this is essential reading for armchair travelers and word nerds. Our dictionaries are full of hidden histories, tales, and adventures from all over the world—if you know where to look.