Customer Reviews

The Artful Nuance: A Refined Guide to Imperfectly Understood Words in the English Language

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The Artful Nuance is a handy compendium for the careful speaker and writer who wants, as Mark Twain said, the right word, not merely the almost right word. Rod Evans has cataloged the characteristics that make similar-seeming words unique. What I enjoyed most about The Artful Nuance is that I found a number of words that have, in common use, all but blotted out another word, such as depreciate (instead of deprecate), enormousness (instead of enormity), and healthful (instead of healthy). Professor Evans helps to restore these nearly forgotten words to their rightful place by clearly explaining the differences between these and many other words. It is a joy to read his comparisons of words from amok/beserk to zeal/zest. A great book!

In his book Discourses on Davila (1790), John Adams wrote that human beings naturally had a "passion for distinction." Although not quite the same as the passion Adams wrote about, the passion for distinctions (in the plural) that many of us have is, fortunately, shared by author Rod Evans in this delightfully informative book. Some grammar books might teach us about the distinction between the words "that" and "which," but where else but in The Artful Nuance can we learn about such distinctions as "biannual" vs. "biennial," "specious" vs. "spurious," "venal" vs. "venial," or "naked" vs. "nude"? Readers of this book also will realize the subtle differences between a "geek" and a "nerd," a "tramp" and a "vamp," or a "twerp" and a "twit." Or such nice three-way distinctions as "bum/hobo/tramp" (only two of which are necessarily homeless), "rascal/rogue/scoundrel" (which is nastiest?), or "kinky/kooky/quirky" (I'll admit to being only one!). Movie-goers will appreciate the difference between "movie" and "film," and if they like to stay to watch the credits, the distinctions between "screenplay by," "story by," and "written by." Whoever makes the signs for supermarket express lanes ought to know the distinction between "fewer" and "less." And knowing the difference between "sweet potato" and "yam" might come in handy at the next Thanksgiving dinner. Overall, I highly recommend The Artful Nuance. It's such a handy reference book that I have two copies, one for home and one for my office.

I bought this book for a friend who is fascinated by languages and all of the little nuances that determine where sayings came from, how certain phrases came into use and so forth. He just loved this book! Anyone else who wants to know why we communicate with the phrases we use will also enjoy it.

I heard about this book on NPR. It sounded really interesting. It is... kind of. The explanation of nuance is often difficult to understand. Isn't that the point of the book? I wouldn't recommend it.