Chapter 3 of A Book of Burlesques is here in full — 423 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of A Book of Burlesques is here in full — 423 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
It wasn't on the bill. THE FIRST MAN Oh, bill be damned! You might have ordered it anyhow. Make a fuss and you'll get what you want. These foreigners have to be bossed around.
Chapter 3 of A Book of Burlesques is here in full — 423 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/84 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
used to indicate that a statement explains or supports a previous statement
From this reading “You might have ordered it anyhow.”
surrounding, or on every side of, something
From this reading “These foreigners have to be bossed around.”
a statute in draft before it becomes law
From this reading “It wasn't on the bill.”
past form of “boss” — raise in a relief
From this reading “These foreigners have to be bossed around.”
expletives used informally as intensifiers
From this reading “THE FIRST MAN Oh, bill be damned!”
plural of “foreigner” — a person who comes from a foreign country; someone who does not owe allegiance to your country
From this reading “These foreigners have to be bossed around.”
worry unnecessarily or excessively
From this reading “Make a fuss and you'll get what you want.”
having a systematic arrangement; especially having elements succeeding in order according to rule
From this reading “You might have ordered it anyhow.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading Make a fuss and you'll get what you want.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Make a fuss and you'll get what you want.
used to indicate that a statement explains or supports a previous statement
From this reading You might have ordered it anyhow.
surrounding, or on every side of, something
From this reading These foreigners have to be bossed around.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading THE FIRST MAN Oh, bill be damned!
a statute in draft before it becomes law
From this reading It wasn't on the bill.
past form of “boss” — raise in a relief
From this reading These foreigners have to be bossed around.
expletives used informally as intensifiers
From this reading THE FIRST MAN Oh, bill be damned!
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading THE FIRST MAN Oh, bill be damned!
plural of “foreigner” — a person who comes from a foreign country; someone who does not owe allegiance to your country
From this reading These foreigners have to be bossed around.
worry unnecessarily or excessively
From this reading Make a fuss and you'll get what you want.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading Make a fuss and you'll get what you want.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading You might have ordered it anyhow.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It wasn't on the bill.
engage in
From this reading Make a fuss and you'll get what you want.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading THE FIRST MAN Oh, bill be damned!
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading You might have ordered it anyhow.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading THE FIRST MAN Oh, bill be damned!
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading It wasn't on the bill.
having a systematic arrangement; especially having elements succeeding in order according to rule
From this reading You might have ordered it anyhow.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading It wasn't on the bill.
the plural of “this”: the people or things near, or just mentioned
From this reading These foreigners have to be bossed around.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading These foreigners have to be bossed around.
feel or have a desire for; want strongly
From this reading Make a fuss and you'll get what you want.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It wasn't on the bill.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading Make a fuss and you'll get what you want.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading You might have ordered it anyhow.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Make a fuss and you'll get what you want.
Chapter 3 of A Book of Burlesques by H. L. (Henry Louis) Mencken holds 423 sentences, grouped into 85 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 3 holds 423 sentences of A Book of Burlesques, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of A Book of Burlesques by H. L. (Henry Louis) Mencken exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 423 sentences, grouped into 85 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 85 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 85 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 3 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading A Book of Burlesques by H. L. (Henry Louis) Mencken on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2153 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #22145 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #22145, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 179 minutes of reading across 431 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Book of Burlesques section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 5 chapters of A Book of Burlesques to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in A Book of Burlesques, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
