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 Brand: Broadway
Manufacturer Broadway
Binding Hardcover
ReleaseDate 2002-08-13
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780767910422

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

Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words

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