Saying What You Mean: A Commonsense Guide to American Usage

by Robert Claiborne

In hundreds of dictionary-type entries, ranging from "Acronyms" to "Y'know," the author of "Our Marvellous Native Tongue" insists on clarity as the touchstone of good usage

269 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Robert Watson Claiborne, Jr. (1919–1990) American folk singer, labor organizer and writer. He wrote primarily about science and linguistics.

Reviews

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book with attitude and humor, Claiborne looks at selected words and grammatical "rules" and subjects them to scrutiny and criticism; saying a lot of them violate common sense and are archaic and no longer relevant. I've skimmed this from time to time with enjoyment. If anyone ever wants to argue about whether to split an infinitive, get this book out and show them Claiborne's take on the issue. He says split holy living fuck out of infinitives; who cares? (that's my paraphrasing of what he says...)