Customer Reviews

The Penguin Dictionary of Troublesome Words

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Not to gild the lily, this is to all intents and purposes a basically good book. Hopefully, it will be utilized to put an end to grammatical and usage errors, as well as misuse of apostrophe's, "quotation marks" and other punctuation.

If that paragraph above does not give you the dry heaves, you need to read Bill Bryson's "Dictionary."

Unfortunately, much as I enjoyed this book, I'm afraid it will appeal primarily to people who already know a lot of this information, instead of to the many who would benefit from reading it. And that's too bad ("The belief that *and* should not be used to begin a sentence is without foundation. And that's all there is to it." [p. 13]).

As Bryson notes, this book is not a style or usage guide. For that, I would recommend Fowler and Wallraff, sources Bryson often cites, and especially Bill Walsh's Lapsing Into a Comma : A Curmudgeon's Guide to the Many Things That Can Go Wrong in Print--and How to Avoid Them. What this book does provide is a useful guide to clarity of expression through precise use of language. While many people may not know, or care, about the distinctions between "lectern," "podium," "dais," and "rostrum" (p. 119), for example, the distinctions are nevertheless important, and Bryson helps nail them down.

He makes the important point that English is a language without a governing authority. Tradition and usage define what's proper. Language is evolutionary -- an example, as Hayek noted, of spontaneous order. However, it's possible to take this idea too far. In the Introduction (a passage quoted on the back cover as well), Bryson says, "If you wish to say 'between you and I' or to use *fulsome* in the sense of lavish, it is your privilege to do so...". I'm not certain this is the sort of advice people necessarily need to hear, unless of course you add the important corollary that the rest of us have the privilege of considering you an idiot for doing so.

Apart from that, though, this is an entertaining as well as useful read, and one I encourage writers both professional and casual to keep handy.

Bill Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words is a fun read for word enthusiasts. Written in his usual humorous style, it is full of interesting and in many cases unusual examples of correct English usage, as well as the basics, such as the difference between less and fewer for the surprisingly many that still don't know. Well worth having in your personal reference library.

This is an excellent book that every serious writer should have in his or her collection. It is an excellent insight into the English language from "a" to "zoom." This book is an update of the 1983 version, and has been substantially improved both in length and in quality.

Bryson's Dictionary is useful when you want to decide whether to use "lay" or "lie," to know the plural of "faux pas," to spell the word "rottweiler," or any of a number of other confusing aspects of the English language.

In addition to the dictionary, the appendix has some rules of getting your punctuation right, which is followed by a bibliography and list for suggested reading (in case this book inspires you to go even deeper into the intricacies of the English language).

My only complaint is that there are some words that I would have liked to see included, but of course it would be impossible to write a book with every single confusing word.

Nonetheless, this book is an invaluable resource to anyone who enjoys writing and enjoys writing well.

If you are one of those people who actually care about your writing, then this book is for you. I picked up a copy recently at a bookstore and I've browsed through most of it. I'm embarrassed to say that I found a few words that I had been using incorrectly!

I don't know if I'd really use this book over a 'real' dictionary, but I would definitely consider it if I'm unsure of a definition or the proper usage of a word. I expect that I'll be reviewing this book occasionally to make sure that there isn't some word that I'm slipping up on.

If you are self conscious and concerned about your writing, then pick up this valuable resource. I guarantee you'll be able to find something in the book that you haven't been using properly or misspelling (if that's not the case, then congratulations).

As a freelance book editor for the past two decades, I'm one of that rather small, self-selected group of people who are likely to read grammar texts and style guides for pleasure. My copies of Follett and Patridge are well-thumbed, but I'm always willing to peruse a new effort. Bryson started out as a copyeditor for the Times of London, and was the compiler of _The Penguin Dictionary of Troublesome Words_ (of which this is actually a 2d edition), and he has a proven and felicitous writing style, so the book is both useful and a pleasure to read. Which is not to say that I don't have some nits to pick. Some of the problems he addresses are obvious, like the increasingly common disregard for the difference between "its" and "it's," and the bugbear of ending a sentence with a preposition. Then there are less commonly discussed screw-ups that, personally, make me wince when I hear or read them, like a car having a "collision" with a tree, or something being in "close proximity" with something else, or the difference between a "meteor" and a "meteorite," or the insistence that "noisome" has something to do with noise. And he handles all of those well and wittily. But many other entries seem to be spacefillers or else were carried over from a much more specialized list from his newspaper days. For instance, I've never had occasion to worry about the proper spelling of the Nullarbor Plain in Australia, or the Welsh word "eisteddfod." And how many writers confuse "cord" and "chord"? And an author or editor is expected to check the spelling of names like "coelacanth" and Amelia "Earhart" and "Alfa-Romeo" and "Meriwether" Lewis anyway. I can also think of a number of commonly misused words and terms that Bryson did not include, and for which a discussion would have been useful, such as the colloquial use of "ain't," and why "bugbear" has nothing to do with wildlife. I won't be adding this one to my ready-reference shelf, but it's worth a read.

This book is entitled either plain "Troublesome Words" or in older editions, "The Penguin Dictionary of Troublesome Words".

For most of us non-Grammarians whose English is instinctive rather than based on intimate knowledge of linguistic rules, trying to improve our English by reading books in grammar or English usage can be quite an ordeal, as most of them are dry and technical. Bill Bryson's book is slim (192 pages in my edition), palatable and great fun. Alphabetically, Mr Bryson sets out the most common mistakes in English spelling, grammar and usage which he has come across. Most of the more obvious "troublesome words" are covered succinctly, clearly and with lashings of humour. Examples: "VERY should be made to pay its way in sentences"; "VARIOUS DIFFERENT is inescapably redundant"; "The Oxford English Dictionary contains 414,825 words. IRREGARDLESS is not one of them." At the end of the book is a section on punctuation. Illustrations of correct and incorrect usage are helpfully given. What adds to the fun is that most illustrations of wrong usage are taken from leading US and UK newspapers and periodicals, and even occasionally from an authority on the language; how nice to see their feet of clay. Another point in this book's favour; Mr Bryson being an American who has spent much of his professional life in the British journalistic profession, sees things from both sides of the Atlantic and does not have an overt bias one way or the other. (Unlike many British who have an almost hysterical aversion to Americanisms.)

While admirable and enjoyable, this book is too short and too personal to serve as a good reference. If you have a particular problem, it may or may not be addressed in this book. (This lack of comprehensiveness is why I give this four stars instead of five.) Nonetheless, anyone who studies and takes to heart the contents of this book will undoubtedly improve his English and will do his tiny part to stem the tide of sloppy and plain bad English which threatens to swamp us all today. It is a shame this book is out of print. I would love to send a copy to every journalist I know.

Finally, I must tell of how my edition of this book unwittingly demonstrates the pervasiveness of bad English and the desperation of the good fight against it. Mr Bryson says "FULSOME is one of the most frequently misused words in English. The sense that is usually accorded it - of being copious or lavish or unstinting - is almost the opposite of the word's dictionary meaning. FULSOME is related to FOUL and means odious and overfull, offensively insincere. 'Fulsome praise', properly used, isn't a lavish tribute; it is unctuous and insincere toadying." In my edition (1997 reissue of the second edition), the back page quotes the Guardian (a leading UK newspaper, for Americans who may not know), as saying "Deserves fulsome praise. Its merit is that it is trying to equate the rules prescribed by good English with the demands of the general consensus." Oh dear, indeed. Sabotaged by one's own publisher.

Bill Bryson's dictionary is a wonderful frolic through the foibles of the English language. The misused, the misunderstood and even the mis-spelled are treated with great humour and insight.

Many people will choose to randomly browse through "Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words". I chose the option of reading it cover to cover. Either way, the book cannot fail to both entertain and inform.

Unlike French, English is a work in progress with no bureaucracy trying to stifle change. An institution in the style of the French Academy is unthinkable for English. Indeed, herein lies the strength of English and the basis of its ability to continually re-invent itself and evolve through time. French, by way of comparison, looks increasingly like the fly stuck in amber.

Bryson is a highly observant wordsmith and his book should be read by all those who cherish English and its marvelous journey.

Bryson delivers commonsense answers to your everyday language questions. I've put my copy of Bryson right next to my copy of Fowler. Bryson is neither too conservative nor too liberal: he usually finds the happy medium. If you love English grammar and usage, or write seriously, you'll find this book a great help.

The English language is filled with quirks and puzzles: copy editor Bryson here provides a guide to avoiding the traps and snares of the language. His A-Z dictionary outlines some of the more common problems involved in using ordinary words such as 'either', future', or 'may well be'. Bryson's Dictionary Of Troublesome Words is another browser's joyride for the proper pursuit of English.

This book is subtitled "A Writer's Guide to Getting It Right." You should learn something critical from this: namely, that if you're not a writer, and you don't care much about words in their most precisely accurate usages, you won't care much about this book. I, myself, loved it.

I'm new to Bill Bryson, though I know he has won legions of fans with travel literature like A Walk in the Woods. In Dictionary, he provides "an essential guide to the wonderfully disordered thing that is the English language" (from book jacket) by using several What-Not-To-Do examples from well-known and well-respected newspapers and other publications. For instance, the Washington Post wrote in an article, "He did not feel he had received the kudos that were his due." Can you point out the error? Bryson explains, "Kudos, a Greek word meaning fame or glory, is singular. Thus it should be `the kudos that was his due.' There is no such thing, incidentally, as one kudo." Publications are not just guilty of grammatical errors, but redundancy as well as well. (little joke there) The Observer once printed, "Police searched his house in the tiny hamlet of Oechtringen." Bryson quips "It is the nature of hamlets to be tiny."

Dictionary is ordered, in proper style, alphabetically, with discussion on several hundred words that are most likely to be misused. He also includes some phrases and quotes from classic literature that have - over time - been misunderstood or misspoken. An entry under "W" clarifies, "`Water, water, everywhere/Nor any drop to drink" as being the actual lines from the Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." Anyone else remember the line finishing with "And not a drop to drink"? Ok, maybe it was just me.

Whether this book makes you better at your craft or more self-conscious about all your errors, I do think it is a fabulous resource for writers. And some of the entries are just pretty funny. Case in point, an entry under "K": "Koala bears is always wrong. Koalas are marsupials and have no relation to bears. Just call them koalas." Koalas it is, Mr. Bryson!