COMP CLOSED ‘Pedantic’ by Ross & Kathryn Petras

This week’s giveaway book is one for the word nerds out there (you know who you are). The book is Pedantic by language boffins Ross Petras and Kathryn Petras – a hilarious and useful guide to the 100 terms smart people should know…

So, what is Pedantic? Well, it's a compendium of 100 words and phrases that smart people use – even if they only kinda sorta (secretly don't) know what they mean – with pithy definitions and fascinating etymologies to solidify their meanings.

Your boss makes a joke about Schrodinger's cat – something you've heard of, but what exactly happened (or didn't happen) with that cat? Or you're reading a New Yorker article that explains that ‘Solecism slipped into solipsism into full-blown narcissistic projection.' An excellent point…if only you knew what ‘solecism' meant..or, for that matter, ‘solipsism'.

Covering the worlds of science, the arts and philosophy, Ross Petras and Kathryn Petras explore broad topics, like quantum physics and ontology, and more specific ones, like shibboleth and bete noire. From Latin phrases we often hear and read (prima facie, sui generis and the like) to those pesky words that have entered our vocabularies from other languages (bildungsroman, sturm und drang), this book will inform and delight even the most pernickety word nerds.

A perfect book for writers everywhere – and we have three copies to be won. To be in to win, simply tell us your favourite phrase – and why you love it so much! Our favourite three answers will WIN a copy of the book!

Entries close midday Monday 18 May, Sydney/Melbourne time.

THIS COMPETITION HAS NOW CLOSED. THANKS FOR YOUR ENTRIES! WINNERS WILL BE CONTACTED BY EMAIL AND ANNOUNCED IN OUR NEWSLETTER.