The focus of this book is on how 'created' oppositions are triggered, constructed and construed in language. Examples are drawn from a wealth of sources - including poems, medical texts and newspaper stories - with oppositions cleverly unravelled and their ability to influence our thoughts and our reality gradually exposed. The findings contribute usefully to the growing body of knowledge about antonyms and other oppositions, and to the contexts in which they occur; the ramifications are significant for language-based studies of literature, popular culture and the media.

Steven Jones, Director of Undergraduate Studies, School of Education, The University of Manchester, UK

[Jeffries'] analysis of a range of constructed opposites from literary and non-literary texts adds importantly to our understanding of this language device that is one technique being used to construct a worldview of opposites, of them and us.

Helen de Silva Joyce, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia, Discourse & Communication