Cassell's Colloquial Spanish: A Handbook of Idiomatic Usage (Including Latin-American Spanish)

Cassell’s Colloquial Spanish is one of a newly revised series of handbooks which provide convenient and fascinating coverage of modern languages, and of the pitfalls and difficulties inherent in colloquial, colourful, or idiomatic usage. Written with knowledge and enthusiasm, each book is not only a valuable source of reference but also an entertaining and absorbing portrait of the current state of the language. Among the areas covered are:

common words with no exact equivalent in English: detailed guidance is given false friends: the dangerous words which look similar to an English word but mean something slightly—or very—different spoken language: common usage which differs from the written forms levels of meaning: including guidance on words you may hear but should only use with care—or not at all! special language: including the idiom of polite formalities and telephones, and special vocabularies