The Dimwit's Dictionary: More Than 5,000 Overused Words and Phrases and Alternatives to Them [Paperback]

Robert Hartwell Fiske (Author), Joseph Epstein (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2006

This compilation of thousands of overused words and phrases, and alternatives to them, is the ultimate tool for the writer who seeks to weed out common, tired, language and replace it with crisp, concise writing. Humorous examples of bad language make for great browsing, while readers can also look up specific clichés and find fresh options.

Editorial Reviews

Review

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

About the Author

Robert Hartwell Fiske is the editor and publisher of The Vocabula Review, a journal about the English language, and the author of The Dictionary of Concise Writing. He lives in Rockport, Massachusetts. Joseph Epstein is the author of Friendship: An Expose and Snobbery: The American Version, and is the former editor of The American Scholar. His work has appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Harper's Magazine, and The New Yorker. He lives in Evanston, Illinois.

Product Details

• Paperback: 440 pages
• Publisher: Marion Street Press, LLC; 2nd edition (September 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933338113
• ISBN-13: 978-1933338118
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,689,216 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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thoroughly Enjoy, February 4, 2010

By 

The Writer in Me "Lena Sledge" (United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Dimwit's Dictionary (Hardcover)

I love this book. It's a great reference for writers. My kids use this book, and I've found them going through it on several occasions. If you're a writer, you need to purchase this book. It gives a freshness to vocabulary and it's very sensible and comprehensible.

6 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reviews from Vocabula Review Readers, March 1, 2009

By 

Vocabula "Robert Hartwell Fiske" (Rockport, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Dimwit's Dictionary: More Than 5,000 Overused Words and Phrases and Alternatives to Them (Paperback)

Though I've been writing professionally for more than twenty-five years, I'm having fun reading random entries in The Dimwit's Dictionary: 5,000 Overused Words and Phrases and Alternatives to Them, and its companion volume, The Dictionary of Concise Writing: 10,000 Alternatives to Wordy Phrases, because I need the occasional expert opinion (suspect superlative!) because my prose can suddenly and without warning (a wretched redundancy!) go overboard (a moribund metaphor!) and basically (overworked word!) commit egregious errors (an inescapable pair!) and even lapse into what is really and truly (infantile phrase!) as dead as a dodo (insipid simile!). -- Bill Kent, award-winning journalist and author of the six books

This is not a book that most people would sit down and read as I did, but it is a great and interesting reference! -- Stephanie L. Roberts, Joseph-Beth Booksellers

Your Dimwit's Dictionary has helped me become much more critical of how I write and speak. Thank You, Mr. Fiske! Your work is original because there is no other work which categorizes overused phrases and cliches, and offers concise alternatives. Your title, Dimwit's Dictionary, masks the precision and true noble purpose of your book: to regain a sensitivity to our language so that we may express our feelings and thoughts more accurately and deeply, and become more self-aware as human beings. -- Bullwinkle495

5 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Felt Like a Dimwit for ordering, February 7, 2009

By 

LMP "LMP" (Camden County NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dimwit's Dictionary (Hardcover)

This selection was not nearly as entertaining or helpful as I suspected it would be from the reviews I read prior to purchasing. Was quite disappointed with the content.