How To Tell Fate From Destiny: And Other Skillful Word Distinctions – An English Language Reference for Writers

by Charles Harrington Elster

If you have trouble distinguishing the verbs imitate and emulate , the relative pronouns that and which , or the adjectives pliant, pliable, and supple , never fear— How to Tell Fate from Destiny is here to help! With more than 500 headwords, the book is replete with advice on how to differentiate commonly confused words and steer clear of verbal trouble.

Whether you’re a boomer , a Gen-Xer , or a millennial , if you peruse , browse , or even skim these spindrift pages you will (not shall ) become versed in the fine art of differentiation. You will learn, for example,
 
¦ how to tell whether you suffer from pride , vanity , or hubris
¦ how to tell whether you’re contagious or infectious
¦ how to tell if you’re pitiful or pitiable
¦ how to tell if you’re self-centered or self-absorbed
¦ how to live an ethical life in a moral universe

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Language, Writing, Linguistics

320 pages, Paperback

Published October 23, 2018

About the author

Charles Harrington Elster is a writer, broadcaster, and logophile—a lover of words.

He is the author and narrator of the audio vocabulary-building program Verbal Advantage and the book by the same name. His other books include Tooth and Nail and Test of Time, vocabulary-building novels for high school students preparing to take the college entrance exams; There's a Word for It, a lighthearted look at unusual—and unusually useful—words; and The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations, which William Safire of The New York Times hailed as "the best survey of the spoken field in years." In 2005 Harcourt published What in the Word? Wordplay, Word Lore, and Answers to Your Peskiest Questions About Language, and in 2006 Houghton Mifflin released the second edition of The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations, featuring nearly 200 new entries.

Charlie was pronunciation editor of the seventh and eighth editions of Black's Law Dictionary and a consultant for Garner's Modern American Usage. He is a guest contributor to the "On Language" column of The New York Times Magazine, and his articles have appeared in the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the San Diego Union-Tribune, and other publications.

Charlie has also been talking about language on the radio since 1985. He has been interviewed on NPR’s Talk of the Nation, Weekend Edition, and All Things Considered and been a guest on hundreds of radio shows around the country. For five and a half years he cohosted a weekly public radio talk show on language called A Way with Words.

Charlie was born in New York City in 1957 and earned his B.A. cum laude from Yale in 1981. He lives in San Diego with his wife and two daughters.

Reviews

[Ell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a former university researcher turned homeschooling mom with two master’s degrees. But sometimes it is hard to put into words the nuanced differences between words. Enter, How to Tell Fate from Destiny. Not sure of the difference between genial and congenial? Author Charles Harrington Elster provides the answer. Are both ‘afterward’ and ‘afterwards’ correct? It turns out they are. The former is preferred in American English and the latter is preferred in British English. This is a handy guide for students, writers and professionals.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Valuable to writers and editors and interesting to anyone who loves words and the English language.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve written blog posts and recorded vlogs about writers who seem to rely on spell check to make sure they’re using the right word. Most of the time, they probably didn’t have an adequate editor to review their manuscript and thus didn’t check whether or not they were using the right word (even if the wrong word is spelled correctly). With the state of the printed word slipping year after year, a book like How to Tell Fate from Destiny should be a standard reference on any writer’s desk. Although, many of the words covered in this book are slowly changing due to idiomatic circumstances.

It is slightly encouraging to see examples provided in this book from reputable sources (like well-known newspapers and magazines) that still have these common errors in their writing. If anything, these examples prove how difficult it can be to distinguish the correct word usage over the more familiar word usage. Granted, many of the “correct” words don’t sound right to the common ear. However, those who want to show they are professional via their writing need to hold to these steadfast style guides and usage manuals (many of which are referenced throughout).

One of my qualms with this book is the large amount of semi-obscure vocabulary it covers. There were plenty of pages filled with words I had never seen and will likely never use in my writing. Perhaps this book is best used by those who consider themselves “literary” writers and thus end up using words that sound much loftier than they are. If anything, this book proves that professional writing abides by the idiom of “keep it simple, stupid.” Many of the Mark Twain quotes contained in this book say as much.

A useful resource for writers, especially those with a grandiloquent vocabulary, I give How to Tell Fate from Destiny 4.0 stars out of 5.
   


For more reviews of books and movies like this, please visit www.benjamin-m-weilert.com

[Christine Woods · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the distinctions between the words were as promised, I hadn't expected a modern book to have such a prescriptivist stance. When I was younger and still learning, I loved the Elements of Style, and Elster harkens back to that tradition; I think I would have really enjoyed this book as an adolescent. However, the near absolute dismissal of modern usage that accurately reflects the evolution of the language is only arbitrarily bent for words and phrasings that are deemed acceptable under unfathomable whims of the author, who frequently criticizes various dictionaries for accepting usages that the author has deemed inappropriate.

Many folks went through the growing pains of the Internet and Grammer Policing as it surged and fell out of fashion, as the discourse has largely highlighted the inherent classism in strict adherence to one prescriptivist form of English as the only intellectual way to communicate.

Also, some of the points the author insists on are a bit absurd--I am willing to be wrong, but I have never once heard a human pronounce covert as kuh-vert and have a hard time believing that that is the accepted and standard pronunciation.

Overall, a solid resource in explaining the distinction between commonly confused phrases, but would have found the work more valuable if the author spent more time expressing the connotative and nuanced aspects of different terms instead of declaring anyone who misuses a word illiterate.

Four stars for being interesting and informative (would have enjoyed more etymology, but hey, totally learned a few things so points for that!), less one star for being a style guide marketed as a reference text. Would read more from this author, but with the knowledge that it's going to be a prescriptivist work.

[Nicole Normand · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy from NetGalley; this is my honest review
-Great examples of multiple words that many people misuse, interchange, or just forget that they exist as an option.
-A bucket of examples, some funnier than others, some right to the point, and others so plain you cannot mistaken what is explained.
-The best ones I found were "celibate, chaste", worth reading as most people don't realize in full what they mean and the illustration is surprising and gives a whole new meaning to those words.
-I found the difference between "every day, everyday" to be important.
-It's good to know that for "less, fewer" one goes with singular, the other with plural.
-I've been interested in the generation names for several years now and found a chapter just for it! Quite interesting how and why they were name as such.
-I actually didn't know there was such a difference between "gift, present". Wow.
-There are also good reminders such as with "lose, loose".
-Would recommend, even though it took me so long to read it was well worth it.

[Deb Montague · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mildly interesting. If you struggle with choosing the right word, or are a writer, editor, or proofreader, this book will be of interest. If you love words, you'll probably like this book. Otherwise, to pick it up and read it will be something of a slog. I'll likely add it to my writing resources shelf because it's the kind of thing, as one writes, which will lend itself to, "Am I saying this correctly? Where's that one book I read?"

[Daniel Thurston · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finally slogged through. I'm generally just not here for prescriptivist rhetoric. Comes across as pedantic and/or didactic; I recognize they aren't the same, Elster, but I just don't care.

Language is governed by usage. And languages are always changing. What used to be incorrect or improper becomes correct if that's how the language is being used.

But I absolutely love the sleeping cats on the cover. A big plus.

[Literary Redhead · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for every writer and student of English! The author clarifies 500+ words that can easily confuse the user, leaving the reader with a precise understanding no mere dictionary can produce. A literary jewel! 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. Opinions are mine. Pub Date 23 Oct 2018. #HowToTellFateFromDestiny #NetGalley

[RD Chiriboga Moncayo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful .

[Sandra Easter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great way to learn words we often misuse.

[Monique · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun book about language!

[Hannah Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though there were a handful of word distinctions I was already familiar with, I was surprised by how many I didn't know and how many words I mess up. I made a list of words I struggle with in the hopes I will use the list when I'm writing something important. Occasionally Elster gets frustrated with common errors, and because he's a logophile, this can be pretty entertaining. For instance, while writing about "the rampant misuse of can for may," Elster states, "'Everybody does it' is the poorest, lamest excuse for an infraction. It's the last refuge of the speeder, the spitter, the litterer, and the liar. Do you want scoundrels like these to run your language?" Though Elster's scolding tone may rub some the wrong way, I applaud his passion (even though I shrugged off some of the scolding). How to Tell Fate From Destiny has a little bit of everything - humor, passion, history, an opportunity for personal growth, and the feeling of a deeper connection with fellow scoundrels.

[C22English · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elster transforms semantics into an intellectual playground, proving that the subtlest shifts in meaning can shape perception. A must-read for lovers of language.

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.