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Favorite Reference Book?
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Ken
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Feb 01, 2008 01:32PM

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Welcome, Mike. I think what makes The Elements of Style an enduring favorite is the fact that it's concise (unlike any sentence with "the fact that" in it). In other words, both Strunk AND White not only talk the talk, they walk the walk -- unlike some huge reference books that lecture us six ways to Sunday about being succinct.

When I'm searching for le mot juste and just breathing alone doesn't give me the 'inspiration' I need, my thesaurus is there for me.
For French, it doesn't get any better than Bescherelle!
I have to admit, I am also quite fond of dear old (new?) Wikipedia. I realize that, as an 'electronic resource', Wiki does not qualify as a reference book but I feel the need to mention my favourite fount of knowledge and amusement here anyway.
How new is your OED? Maybe you can check "audiobook" vs. "audio book" for Grumpus. He stumped Dr. Grammar yesterday (no major feat, that!).

However, I have it on the authority of my mother - bibliophile, grammar wiz, and librarian extraordinaire, that "audiobook" is, in fact, one word.

Thought I'd take a look around this group and read what there is to read. Like Mike, I love the classic Elements of Style. I equally adore the "workbook" Writing Down the Bones. Grammar guides The Deluxe Transitive Vampire and The Grammar Book: An ESL/EFL Teacher's Course have been greatly appreciated when looking for just the right way to explain why something works the way it does.
I read Writing Down the Bones a few years back. It was a lot of fun. Great for getting the "writing yeast" to rise.
As for The Deluxe Transitive Vampire, I wish I could read it and hate it JUST so my review could read: "The Deluxe Transitive Vampire sucks!"
Bloody right.
As for The Deluxe Transitive Vampire, I wish I could read it and hate it JUST so my review could read: "The Deluxe Transitive Vampire sucks!"
Bloody right.


The Associated Press Stylebook and The Associated Press Guide to Punctuation have answers for almost every odd thing.
I'm also very fond of William Zinsser's On Writing Well.

Hi, Beth, and welcome. Your wonderful post could double for an Introduction & Welcome post, too. Double duty. And whoever thought of that corny expression "the world is your oyster" has some explaining to do...
ok-i have goethe's faust in english
and goethe's faust in german
i have cassell's german/english dictionary
and the german...ahem friend
(when he isn't acting all german and punishing me for my misdeeds and brooding on the impossibility of love
and i'm not acting all irish and berating him in colorful witticisms for his punishments and brooding)
so...reference books and primary sources of the german varigation, light and dark...oh who are we kidding it's german, all dark
and goethe's faust in german
i have cassell's german/english dictionary
and the german...ahem friend
(when he isn't acting all german and punishing me for my misdeeds and brooding on the impossibility of love
and i'm not acting all irish and berating him in colorful witticisms for his punishments and brooding)
so...reference books and primary sources of the german varigation, light and dark...oh who are we kidding it's german, all dark
yavold
see i need a dictionary in two languages ;)
i once took a drafting course at the local vo-tech thinking i would be a drafter or at the least would get a bit of a harder edge
i'm thinking the german will make me...
more disciplined?
more intellectual?
see i need a dictionary in two languages ;)
i once took a drafting course at the local vo-tech thinking i would be a drafter or at the least would get a bit of a harder edge
i'm thinking the german will make me...
more disciplined?
more intellectual?
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.....(intake of breath).....hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!
haha
nooo
i hate sausage
of all kinds
went to the local german grocery store with my two german buddies
they forced pickled herring on me
bleck
rotten fish in bleach is my opinion
if it wouldn't have been totally rude i would have spit it into the sink
they were high fiving and falling all over themselves in little german boy glee over faukenbroat (brown bread in a can)
sauerkraut (rancid, pickled cabbage) and mauzipan (almond paste)
nooo
i hate sausage
of all kinds
went to the local german grocery store with my two german buddies
they forced pickled herring on me
bleck
rotten fish in bleach is my opinion
if it wouldn't have been totally rude i would have spit it into the sink
they were high fiving and falling all over themselves in little german boy glee over faukenbroat (brown bread in a can)
sauerkraut (rancid, pickled cabbage) and mauzipan (almond paste)

My favorite reference book of late has been "Right, Wrong, and Risky" by Mark Davidson. It is extremely helpful when you're writing and you need to differentiate between "jealousy" and "envy" or "founder" and "flounder," or other things of that sort.
My most-used reference book (besides, of course, my Oxford American English Dictionary) is Diana Hacker's "A Writer's Reference." Very few of my papers have been completed without looking up at least one thing in that book!
Hello (and welcome), Maggie. That's multiple plugs now for Urban Dictionary. At first I thought it was an Urban Legend (like me), but no.
I have Hacker's Rules for Writers. It must be an older edition because I got it in the Olden Tymes.
I have Hacker's Rules for Writers. It must be an older edition because I got it in the Olden Tymes.

And since this is the favorite reference thread, I have to put a plug in for The Old Farmer's Almanac. I buy one every year and find it useful for all sorts of things. And, I like the way it always lists obscure holidays, historical notes and astronomical happenings in the calendar.

The Urban Dictionary online is an excellent resource. I wasn't aware that there is a daily world for the day there. I will have to check that out. I, too, have gotten allot of enjoyment out of reading through that site. I am one of those who enjoy reading through dictionaries.
This is a great group and a great thread. I have enjoyed it immensely.
hi christopher
glad you are here
mosey over to introductions if you'd like and give us your bio :) if you haven't already
glad you are here
mosey over to introductions if you'd like and give us your bio :) if you haven't already
Welcome, Christopher. This wouldn't be the language and grammar and spelling group if I didn't see your "allot" and raise it "a lot." You allot time to do something, and if you're busier than a Type A Bee, you do that something a lot.
End of lesson! (And feel free to call me on my sp's, too. My kindergarten teacher's name was Miss Spelling, and I still haven't recovered.)
End of lesson! (And feel free to call me on my sp's, too. My kindergarten teacher's name was Miss Spelling, and I still haven't recovered.)
Welcome Christopher...don't let NE's corrections scare you off! He IS Dr Grammar (and anyway...he has a strange prediliction for standing on roofs in his non-existant ratty old bathrobe, pontificating on grammar rules - but we love him anyway)!!

-Jonathan
I sometimes use Wikipedia, especially if my question has something to do with pop culture. But I don't really trust it with something important. Who knows what idiots have been feeding it "facts."
