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Anguished English
Anguished English is the impossibly funny anthology of accidental assaults upon our common language. From bloopers and blunders to Signs of the Times to Mixed-Up Metaphors . . . from Two-Headed Headlines to Mangling Modifiers . . . it's a collection that will leave you roaring with delight and laughter.
Paperback, 192 pages
Published
October 28th 1996
by Gibbs Smith
(first published 1987)
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I received this book as a gift...and what a gift it was! Sometimes, the funniest moments in life are completely accidental. Anguished English, as the title suggests, is a compendium of blunders, bloopers, and mistranslations guaranteed to split your sides.
The book is divided into a number of chapters; the first few deal with "Schoolishness," that being the bloopers of students. A group of my friends have long cherished some of the gems from this section.
Other chapters are cleverly titled "Disord...more
The book is divided into a number of chapters; the first few deal with "Schoolishness," that being the bloopers of students. A group of my friends have long cherished some of the gems from this section.
Other chapters are cleverly titled "Disord...more
An easy read and a humorous way to pass the time! If you have ever been a teacher, a writer or one of those people who hates words such as "ain't", you will love this book. I myself since having a brain injury have found myself a member of the non-sequitur club! Yogi Berra has always been one of my favorite comedians (without his meaning to). One of my favorite
quotes by him is in this book.
When Mickey Mantle asked him "What time is it?" Berra replied: "you mean right now?" How much more zen like...more
quotes by him is in this book.
When Mickey Mantle asked him "What time is it?" Berra replied: "you mean right now?" How much more zen like...more
Hilarious, and what's more, consistently hilarious. My high school English teacher and I bonded over this book.
Mar 31, 2008
Jan Ackerson
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
wordies.
Funniest. Book. Ever. Every time I read it (or any other book by Lederer), I laugh until I weep.
This is an easy read. It deals with common assaults (mistakes with words, and, or phrases) on the English language. You get an appreciation for how common Americans, butcher the language. As for second-language users, the mistakes we make, are very similar.
Unfortunately, with the advent of email, and youtube, many of the humorous sign mistakes, have been distributed to us to ad nausea.
None-the-less, there are a few good giggles, and some whooooaaah moments, about silly mistakes, we all make ever...more
Unfortunately, with the advent of email, and youtube, many of the humorous sign mistakes, have been distributed to us to ad nausea.
None-the-less, there are a few good giggles, and some whooooaaah moments, about silly mistakes, we all make ever...more
Jun 26, 2012
Nancy
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone who loves mangled English
More fun with discombobulated English! Like Richard Lederer's Get Thee to a Punnery, Anguished English will have you chuckling and grinning, if not rolling on the floor as you read examples of mangled English written not only by children, but by adults who you think would have learned better in school. Many of these have been on the email circuit, but having them all together makes for just plain fun! My numerically- (rather than verbally-) oriented husband had difficulty listening to some of th
...more
It really isn't this book's fault that I didn't like it. If I had read it when it was first released I'm sure I would have appreciated it more. However, I was disappointed because 1) I was expecting a humorous take on grammar abuses (a la Eats, Shoots, and Leaves) and instead it turned out to be a collection of language "bloopers" of every ilk. 2) I'm not sure how it's possible that so many of these could have been reprinted and read by me without me ever realizing their source, but I'm pretty...more
I was a teenager living at home when I read this book for the first time. My mother expressed concern at all the howling noises she'd been hearing from my room since she got home. I tried to explain to her, but was laughing too hard to speak, tears streaming down my face. I finally handed her the book, and she understood immediately.
I've pared my bookshelves down a bit over the years and moves, but this is one book that is always guaranteed a spot.
I've pared my bookshelves down a bit over the years and moves, but this is one book that is always guaranteed a spot.
view all 5 comments
This was amusing, and several times I really did LOL. The muddled history chapter of 'The World According to Student Bloopers' made this little ABCDière find worthwhile. The majority of the book included variations on sexual innuendo, which I suppose is to be expected from a high school writing, anyway. Whoops, your Freudian slip is showing.
(3 days later) I'm willing to give a couple of extra stars for the joy of hearing my daughter read 'Anguished English.' Her laughter was contagious =0)
(3 days later) I'm willing to give a couple of extra stars for the joy of hearing my daughter read 'Anguished English.' Her laughter was contagious =0)
Absolutely hilarious! It's hard to believe that these stories of horrendous writing are true, but they are. Thank GOD my mom taught me how to diagram sentences in 4th grade. They had stopped teaching that by the mid 70s when I was in grade school, and I hated her for it then, but I'm so grateful now. I can write a decent English sentence because of her dedication to my education.
This just popped up on my "recommendations" page, and I'm shocked to see I hadn't added it among my books, because it's just about one of the funniest things I've ever read. "Anguished English" has become a known catchphrase in my home. It's a little book chock-a-block with grammar bloopers, malapropisms, and not-quite-right translations that leaves you rolling. :)
Anguished English is the impossibly funny anthology of accidental assaults upon our language. From bloopers and blunders to Signs of the Times to Mixed Up Metaphors...from Two-Headed Headlines to Mangling Modifiers, here is an outrageous treasury of assaults upon our common language.
______________________________
Had some amusing bits.
______________________________
Had some amusing bits.
Examples of mangled English from student papers, excuse notes, ads, newspapers, Yogi Berra and other reliable wellsprings of humor. More amusing than convulsive. But if, like me, you laugh aloud at the news headline (from p. 84) "Doctor testifies in horse suit," you might find this worth your time.
Feb 01, 2013
Trudy
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2013-madison-mega-marathon
Anguished English was amusing, and better than Lederer's subsequent book, More Anguished English. Some of these bloopers have made the e-mail rounds (this book was published in 1987), so you may have already read them, but most readers will find at least a few gems to chuckle over.
Everyone in the education field should read Lederer's essay, "World History According to Student Bloopers." Anyone who has proofread their own kids' essays will relate.
I still laugh outloud all these years later at the "defeat of the Spanish Armadillo."
I still laugh outloud all these years later at the "defeat of the Spanish Armadillo."
I love this book but my Daddy says this isn't really appropriate for kids. Even the author told me it wasn't for kids but I liked it and wanted to put it on here. Ask your parents before reading this.
This anthology of language bloopers and miscommunication is lots of fun, but not meant to be read in one sitting. Keep it around and crack it open randomly when you're in need of a laugh.
This sort of book of spurious and apocryphal knee slappers probably wouldn't be necessary in the age of the Internet, but that doesn't mean it wasn't funny in its day.
Meh. His chapter introductions are painful, he tries to be too punny. Also, it's hard to be too psyched about a showcase of how poor we can be with the English.
This is fun casual read. Share bits of it with your most punny friends. Lederer is a great columnist, and this book is a natural fit for his followers.
I laugh just thinking about this book. The chapter on history of the world according to student bloopers alone is worth the price of the book.
The perfect bathroom book, provided you can sit on the can while laughing uncontrollably. Lederer has collected the most hilarious misuses of the English language from student papers ("The sun never set on the British Empire because the British Empire is in the East and the sun sets in the West"), newspaper advertisements ("Stock up and save. Limit: one"), accident reports ("My car sustained no damage whatsoever, and the other car somewhat less"), foreign shop signs (in Hong Kong, a clockwork to...more
Quick read....it was funny, especially the essay some dumb ass kid wrote, in which everything is spelled wrong, and world history takes a strange turn, like when a " guy named Voltaire wrote a book named ' Candy'." Geez...the youth of today....
I haven't read this book in years, but I remember being delighted by it--and checking it out of the library--many times in middle school.
Freaking HILARIOUS. Seriously, even if you aren't "into" correct English, these gaffs will have you falling off your seat.
It's what I read whenever I'm in an especially bad mood and really, really need to laugh out loud for an hour or two.
This was really fun. I had a close friend who got me into reading about word origins and wordplay. Lederer is great.
Jun 04, 2009
Jenny
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
adult-nonfiction,
adult-humor
Very entertaining, but needs to be taken in small doses. You can only take so much stupidity at one time. =)
Jan 09, 2009
Jennifer Patrick
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
non-fiction
I love it when I find bloopers in print. The Middletown Journal has at least one gem everyday.
I laughed so hard I cried.
Recommend: 16+ or linguistically clever younger person
Recommend: 16+ or linguistically clever younger person
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Richard Lederer is the author of more than 35 books about language, history, and humor, including his best-selling Anguished English series and his current book, The Gift of Age. He has been profiled in magazines as diverse as The New Yorker, People, and the National Enquirer and frequently appears on radio as a commentator on language. He has been named International Punster of the Year and Toast...more
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