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The Dictionary of Concise Writing: More Than 10,000 Alternatives to Wordy Phrases
 
 
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The Dictionary of Concise Writing: More Than 10,000 Alternatives to Wordy Phrases [Paperback]

Robert Hartwell Fiske (Author), Richard Lederer (Foreword)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Book Description

1933338121 978-1933338125 September 1, 2006 2nd
Concise alternatives for thousands of common, wordy phrases are provided in this guide to clean, strong prose. Updated and revised with hundreds of new entries, this new edition can tidy up any writer's long-winded phraseology with such helpful replacements as "because" for "based on the fact that," "cease" for "put an end to," and "violate" for "fail to comply with."

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Two of the better usage books to come down the road."  —Zay Smith, Chicago Sun-Times, on The Dictionary of Concise Writing and The Dimwit's Dictionary

About the Author

Robert Hartwell Fiske is the editor and publisher of The Vocabula Review and the author of The Dictionary of Disagreeable English and The Dimwit's Dictionary. He lives in Rockwell, Massachusetts. Richard Lederer is the author of more than 3,000 books and articles about language and humor, including A Man of My Words. He is the author of the syndicated column, "Looking at Language." He lives in Costa Mesa, California.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 420 pages
  • Publisher: Marion Street Press, LLC; 2nd edition (September 1, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1933338121
  • ISBN-13: 978-1933338125
  • Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #280,389 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Hartwell Fiske is the editor and publisher of The Vocabula Review (www.vocabula.com), since 1999 an online journal about the English language, and certainly the principal web destination for anyone interested in words and language.

He is the author of:

* Silence, Language, & Society: A guide to style and meaning, grace and compassion
* The Dimwit's Dictionary
* The Dictionary of Concise Writing
* The Dictionary of Disagreeable English
* 101 Wordy Phrases
* 101 Foolish Phrases
* 101 Elegant Paragraphs
* Speaking of Silence (or Agnes and Otto)
* The Best Words

He is the editor of:

* Vocabula Bound 1: Outbursts, Insights, Explanations, and Oddities
* Vocabula Bound 2: Our Wresting, Writhing Tongue
* And, with Laura Cherry, Poem, Revised: 54 Poems, Revisions, Discussions

He is the owner of Vocabula Communications Company (www.vocabula.com/VCC.asp), which consists of The Vocabula Review and Vocabula Books.

 

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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An indispensable tool for respectful writers, March 22, 2007
This review is from: The Dictionary of Concise Writing: More Than 10,000 Alternatives to Wordy Phrases (Paperback)
Use this book before you use an editor. No one will be as capable as you of initially editing your writing for wordiness, IF you have the "The Dictionary of Concise Writing" at your side.

It's easy to use and durable. It has 400 pages in two parts. Part One is "Words and People," with concise advice about concision, and Part Two, beginning on page 45, is "The Dictionary of Concise Writing." The dictionary alphabetically lists wordy phrases with "alternative expressions and real-world examples."
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Resource, June 12, 2011
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This review is from: The Dictionary of Concise Writing: More Than 10,000 Alternatives to Wordy Phrases (Paperback)
This book is an excellent tool. If you are not an experienced writer or editor, it is easy to write a prolix sentence. This book should be used by everyone who has to write anything. If your writing is concise, it will save you time and help your reader understand what you mean.
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5 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Nothing but Praise, January 20, 2010
This review is from: The Dictionary of Concise Writing: More Than 10,000 Alternatives to Wordy Phrases (Paperback)

The Dictionary of Concise Writing is a book to be read from cover to cover by every wordsmith in any discipline or profession if for no other reason than to gain the realization of just how "shoddy" much of our writing is. -- Nancy Berger

This is brilliant! This is exactly what I have been looking for. As a translator, I often have to convert wordy dreck into readable English -- it is too easy to be influenced by the wordiness of the original, and pass it through the filter of translation. For quite some time, I have been collecting as many books as I could find to help me edit and revise, but this is undoubtedly the best. -- Kirk McElhearn

I keep three books on my desk next to my monitor: a dictionary, the AP Stylebook, and Robert Fiske's The Dictionary of Concise Writing. I use it frequently. -- Gary B. Larson, Garbl's Writing Resources Bookshelf

The Dictionary of Concise Writing is a great book. -- Professor Charles Lave, University of California

Your book The Dictionary of Concise Writing is worth its weight in gold. ... Your book has been invaluable to me in ridding sentences of useless words. -- William G. Penner, Russian-to-English translator

I am forcing my associate to read Concise Writing because lawyers are schooled in its antithesis and I am learning a great deal myself despite having had the illusion that I was a competent butcher who wielded a terrible swift sword of fat-trimming from the legal garbage I face daily. -- Bill Martin, lawyer
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