Accomodating Brocolli in the Cemetary: Or Why Can't Anybody Spell [Hardcover]

Vivian Cook (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 30, 2005

"It is a damn poor mind that can think of only one way to spell a word." -- Andrew Jackson

Weird or wierd? Necessary or neccessary? Recomend or recommend? English spelling is fiendish, but that doesn't mean you can't have fun with it.

Accomodating Brocolli in the Cemetary is at once a celebration of spelling and a solace to anyone who has ever struggled with the arcane rules of the English language. As amusing as he is informative, Vivian Cook thrills the reader with more than a hundred entries -- from photographs of hilariously misspelled signs to quizzes best taken in private to schadenfreude-rich examples of spelling errors of literary greats -- that will tickle the inner spelling geek in every reader.

It all adds up to a gem of a book that takes a wry look at the hodgepodge evolution of spelling and the eccentric way it actually works.

Difficult Words Spelling Test

Circle whichever one is right.

1. dessicate desiccate desicate

2. ecstasy exstacy ecstacy

3. adress adres address

4. dumbel dumbbell dumbell

5. accomodate accommodate acommodate

6. necesary neccesary necessary

7. liaison liaision liason

8. pronounciation pronounceation pronunciation

9. ocurence occurrence occurence

10. embarass embaras embarrass

11. brocolli broccolli broccoli

12. refering referring refferring

13. cemetery semetary cemetary

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"It takes a special mind to have this much fun with spelling. Mr. Cook clearly enjoys this subject, and his readers will too."

-- Jeffrey Kacirk, author of The Word Museum and Informal English

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Vivian Cook is professor of applied linguistics at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. He was inspired to write this book out of frustration with those who, not knowing the crucial gender difference between the British spellings Vivian and Vivien assume from his first name that he is a woman. He lives in Colchester, England.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone (August 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743270991
• ISBN-13: 978-0743270991
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,997,437 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars For conoisseurs only!, October 11, 2006

By 

Irina Iacobescu (Dubai, UAE) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Accomodating Brocolli in the Cemetary: Or Why Can't Anybody Spell (Hardcover)

As a non native English speaker and a former student in languages, I consider myself a pretty good speller. But I know that some people find English spelling really frightening. Unfortunately this is not a book for them.

It is for people who master well enough the language and can make distinctions between various forms and spellings of English. Even those who think they are excellent at spelling, can still take a look at some of the exercises. You might find out that there are still words you don't know how to write them correctly.

And for those of you who still have a long way to go to master the English language, get a good grammar book and don't worry too much: Virginia Woolf, Hemingway, Emily Dickinson had similar problems, just to name a few personalities.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't travel well, June 30, 2006

By 

Sarah Sammis "Avid BookCrosser" (Hayward, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Accomodating Brocolli in the Cemetary: Or Why Can't Anybody Spell (Hardcover)

This is a strange book and I'm not sure how well it travels outside the specific region for which it appears to have been written (southern England). There are some fascinating history lessons on English spelling but many of the more modern examples don't make sense outside of specific dialects. For example: our and awe aren't homophones where I live. They aren't even close! There are also some examples of "American" example which may been regionally correct but aren't nationally correct. Here are some examples: dialog, glamour, catalog. In my neck of the woods, they are spelled: glamor, catalogue, catalogue. Then there is the weird spelling of hiccup (hiccough in the book). I've NEVER seen it spelled hiccough and even found a couple examples from the BBC website of the hiccup spelling. In conclusion, I think this book would have been stronger if it had just stayed with one dialect and its history of spelling rules.