<![CDATA[Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words: A Writer's Guide to Getting It Right]]>

false <![CDATA[Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words: A Writer's Guide to Getting It Right]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156042887m/23.jpg 23 12 One of the English language’s most skilled and beloved writers guides us all toward precise, mistake-free usage. As usual Bill Bryson says it best: “English is a dazzlingly idiosyncratic tongue, full of quirks and irregularities that often seem willfully at odds with logic and common sense. This is a language where ‘cleave’ can mean to cut in half or to hold two halves together; where the simple word ‘set’ has 126 different meanings as a verb, 58 as a noun, and 10 as a participial adjective; where if you can run fast you are moving swiftly, but if you are stuck fast you are not moving at all; [and] where ‘colonel,’ ‘freight,’ ‘once,’ and ‘ache’ are strikingly at odds with their spellings.” As a copy editor for the London Times in the early 1980s, Bill Bryson felt keenly the lack of an easy-to-consult, authoritative guide to avoiding the traps and snares in English, and so he brashly suggested to a publisher that he should write one. Surprisingly, the proposition was accepted, and for “a sum of money carefully gauged not to cause embarrassment or feelings of overworth,” he proceeded to write that book–his first, inaugurating his stellar career. Now, a decade and a half later, revised, updated, and thoroughly (but not overly) Americanized, it has become Bryson’s Dictionary of Troublesome Words, more than ever an essential guide to the wonderfully disordered thing that is the English language. With some one thousand entries, from “a, an” to “zoom,” that feature real-world examples of questionable usage from an international array of publications, and with a helpful glossary and guide to pronunciation, this precise, prescriptive, and–because it is written by Bill Bryson–often witty book belongs on the desk of every person who cares enough about the language not to maul or misuse or distort it. From the Hardcover edition. 4360697 1984 Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words: A Writer's Guide to Getting It Right total:378|5:75|4:149|3:123|2:27|1:4| 378 1398 789 27 5 1 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Jul 26 19:40:55 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 16 17:17:12 -0700 2007
An example of something I have applied to my own writing is the entry for include. ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 04 11:25:51 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 04 11:27:08 -0700 2008
This book is Bryson at his stuffiest, in that he presents a list of words and phrases that are commonly mistaken. A typical one is “Keeping...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Dec 28 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Oct 05 03:36:14 -0700 2008 Sat Dec 27 22:53:03 -0800 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Mon Dec 29 12:47:28 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 29 12:47:28 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Fri Jan 30 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Dec 27 14:45:59 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 30 13:25:53 -0800 2009
In fact, I think I'm going to buy this to use it as a quick and easy reference, much easier than using a dictionary or maybe even dict...more...]]> 0 0 false false Tue Aug 05 02:54:20 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 05 02:59:25 -0700 2008
I always learn that I have been misusing or mispronouncing some word or another, this makes me think...more...]]> 0 0 false false Tue Dec 30 14:01:01 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 25 15:37:50 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Wed Nov 14 11:14:18 -0800 2007 Wed Nov 14 11:15:57 -0800 2007 5 0 false false Sat Sep 06 21:21:24 -0700 2008 Sat Sep 06 21:21:44 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Thu Jun 19 02:57:26 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 19 02:59:10 -0700 2008 2 0 false false Fri Jan 02 08:00:56 -0800 2009 Mon Sep 17 20:05:13 -0700 2007 Fri Jan 02 08:00:56 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Wed Jun 11 14:13:41 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 11 14:15:16 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Thu Jul 17 18:09:26 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 17 18:10:04 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Tue Mar 20 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 10 02:06:32 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 10 02:06:32 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Mon Sep 24 17:52:39 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 20 12:52:04 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Thu Apr 17 21:32:19 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 17 21:33:13 -0700 2008 3 0 true false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Mon Jul 07 16:46:27 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 07 16:46:27 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Wed Jul 09 19:14:17 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 09 19:14:41 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Thu Mar 27 13:59:20 -0700 2008 Fri Mar 28 06:38:04 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Tue Aug 28 19:53:50 -0700 2007 Tue Aug 28 20:11:12 -0700 2007 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=23