Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words

Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words
- Used Book in Good Condition
One of the English languageâ‚¬s most skilled and beloved writers guides us all toward precise, mistake-free usage.

As usual Bill Bryson says it best: â‚¬Å“English is a dazzlingly idiosyncratic tongue, full of quirks and irregularities that often seem willfully at odds with logic and common sense. This is a language where â‚¬Ëœcleaveâ‚¬ can mean to cut in half or to hold two halves together; where the simple word â‚¬Ëœsetâ‚¬ has 126 different meanings as a verb, 58 as a noun, and 10 as a participial adjective; where if you can run fast you are moving swiftly, but if you are stuck fast you are not moving at all; [and] where â‚¬Ëœcolonel,â‚¬ â‚¬Ëœfreight,â‚¬ â‚¬Ëœonce,â‚¬ and â‚¬Ëœacheâ‚¬ are strikingly at odds with their spellings.â‚¬Â As a copy editor for the London Times in the early 1980s, Bill Bryson felt keenly the lack of an easy-to-consult, authoritative guide to avoiding the traps and snares in English, and so he brashly suggested to a publisher that he should write one. Surprisingly, the proposition was accepted, and for â‚¬Å“a sum of money carefully gauged not to cause embarrassment or feelings of overworth,â‚¬Â he proceeded to write that bookâ‚¬â€œhis first, inaugurating his stellar career.

Now, a decade and a half later, revised, updated, and thoroughly (but not overly) Americanized, it has become Brysonâ‚¬s Dictionary of Troublesome Words, more than ever an essential guide to the wonderfully disordered thing that is the English language. With some one thousand entries, from â‚¬Å“a, anâ‚¬Â to â‚¬Å“zoom,â‚¬Â that feature real-world examples of questionable usage from an international array of publications, and with a helpful glossary and guide to pronunciation, this precise, prescriptive, andâ‚¬â€œbecause it is written by Bill Brysonâ‚¬â€œoften witty book belongs on the desk of every person who cares enough about the language not to maul or misuse or distort it.
Country USA
Brand Broadway Books
Manufacturer Broadway
Binding Hardcover
ReleaseDate 2002-08-13
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780767910422

Country	USA
Brand	Broadway Books
Manufacturer	Broadway
Binding	Hardcover
ReleaseDate	2002-08-13
UnitCount	1
EANs	9780767910422

Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words

You might also like...