false 344645 1 If they had to state a preference, surely all individuals who ever had occasion to write (be it a memo, love letter, quick e-mail, college essay, or novel) would opt for using appropriate, grammatically correct English. The problem isn't in the intent, it's in the availability and accessibility of clear, understandable answers. Most writers (professional and amateur) get by on what <I>sounds</I> right, their memory of compound predicates and serial commas being a little fuzzy. They might turn to a dictionary or even a thesaurus (or, more likely, depend on the convenience of the computer spell-checker and thesaurus functions), but grammar books are rarely cracked outside of high school English classes.<p> But what if there were a book that explained the rules of grammar and usage and that was precise yet easy to understand? A book that was useful, and didn't make you feel like a dunce for not knowing where to put the period when you use quotation marks? <I>A Dictionary of Modern American Usage</I>, written by Bryan Garner and published by Oxford University Press, could be the start of a new movement, a brave new world in which people cheerfully polish their prose, where participles rarely dangle and "less" was not substituted incorrectly for "fewer." Garner, a lawyer and lexicographer, has created a scholarly and readable masterpiece. He clarifies the dos and don'ts of commas and quotation marks, explains why it's not so awful to end sentences with prepositions, and tackles common confusions, such as <i>lay</i> and <i>lie</i>, <i>flaunt</i> and <i>flout</i>, and <i>assure</i>, <i>insure</i>, and <i>ensure</i>. Erudite and dryly witty, spectacularly organized and up to date, and attentive to both basic usage and advanced nuances, <I>A Dictionary of Modern American Usage</I> is destined to become the reference of choice for students, scribes, editors, executives, and language devotees. <I>--Stephanie Gold</I> 334975 3 12 1998 A Dictionary of Modern American Usage total:15|5:14|4:1| 15 74 38 5 5 0 false false Mon Aug 13 14:13:21 -0700 2007 Mon Aug 13 19:10:33 -0700 2007
"Functional Variation 4 -- Nouns as Verbs.

One type of semantic shift occurs when nouns function as verbs. There are scores o...more...]]> 0 0 false false Mon Aug 17 23:30:49 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 23:32:23 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Fri Jan 09 18:24:50 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 09 18:26:55 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Mon Oct 01 17:35:55 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 10 15:55:54 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 10 16:12:35 -0700 2007
(ps. check out DFW's really really long (but awesome) essay about/review ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Sun Nov 25 15:47:50 -0800 2007 Sun Nov 25 15:48:36 -0800 2007 0 0 false false Tue Aug 18 06:07:32 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 18 06:07:32 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Aug 17 23:56:31 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 23:56:31 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Jul 30 07:08:53 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 30 07:08:55 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Jun 21 13:10:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 21 13:10:00 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Mon May 18 13:14:11 -0700 2009 Mon May 18 13:14:11 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sun Feb 15 08:40:57 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 15 08:40:57 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Wed Feb 04 19:22:24 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 04 19:22:26 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Fri Jan 30 07:57:47 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 30 07:57:47 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sat Jan 24 21:59:20 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 24 21:59:20 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Fri Jan 23 13:43:29 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 23 13:43:29 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Wed Jan 21 20:07:36 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 21 20:07:36 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Wed Jan 21 11:26:44 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 21 11:26:44 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Tue Jan 13 22:09:35 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 13 22:10:02 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Mon Dec 29 10:43:33 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 29 10:43:46 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Sun Nov 23 12:47:15 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 23 12:47:15 -0800 2008