Usage and Abusage: A Guide to Good English (Revised edition) [Paperback]

Eric Partridge (Author), Janet Whitcut (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0393317099 | ISBN-13: 978-0393317091 | Publication Date: December 17, 1997 | Edition: Revised edition

An updated edition of a useful, entertaining guide to picking the right words (and avoiding the wrong ones).

Which is preferred - nom de plume, pseudonym, or pen name? What are neologisms, disguised conjunctions, and fused participles? Language enters into almost every part of human life and yet it is all too often misused: directness and clarity disappear in a whirl of clichés, euphemisms, and wooliness of expression.

Janet Whitcut has revised Eric Partridge's popular reference book to reflect the language of well-informed writers, readers, and speakers today. She has also added a section to the book entitled "Vogue Words," which includes words that have acquired a new power and influence.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Eric Partridge was a master of linguistic scholarship. Author of A Dictionary of Cliches, Shakespeare's Bawdy, and many others, Partridge's Usage and Abusage, first out in 1942, was last updated by him in 1973, six years before his death. But life and language tick on, even without Partridge. Now, Janet Whitcut has revised his classic to keep up with the 1990s. One is reminded that "ablution is now intolerably pedantic" for "hand washing," that errata should be confined to corrections in books, and that precipitously (very steeply) should not be misused in the place of precipitately (violently hurried). The entry on punctuation runs for pages and is lucid, literate, and lively. The "Vogue Words" section is completely updated and provides today's connotations for words and phrases from academic to yuppie, rounding out a scholarly reference that maintains the Partridge standard.

Review

Entertaining and informative. (Library Journal )

Will be appreciated by language lovers, students, and writers. . . . It now reflects the language changes of the '90s, while retaining succinct and witty essays by Partridge on such subjects as ambiguity, euphemisms, jargon, negation, and puns. . . . A gem of linguistic information. (Chattanooga Free Press )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; Revised edition edition (December 17, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393317099
• ISBN-13: 978-0393317091
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #332,360 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get you thinking, March 13, 2009

By 

Sye Sye (Perth, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Usage and Abusage: A Guide to Good English (Revised edition) (Paperback)

I recently bought a retro orange penguin edition (Australian) of this book and loved dipping through it. It made me more conscious about how I was using certain words and why. I recommend it to any person who is studying or interested in the finer workings of written English. As a mature age university student I found the way I tackled essay writing improved due to the thought I gave during the writing and editing processes.

I now feel paranoid about the English usage in this review. . .have I made a fool? :)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well...., March 12, 2009

By 

Gayle Farmer "PSKITTY" (Palm Springs, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Usage and Abusage: A Guide to Good English (Revised edition) (Paperback)

The copy I bought was published in 1964 and last revised in 1947. It is an amusing little romp through the English language and while it is not for all readers, certainly, for those of us who want to know, for instance, Group Terms, Nouns of Assemblage, ie: a colony of gulls, a dray of squirrels, a bale of turtles, on and on, covering a wide variety of nouns, it's very thorough and much like an old dictionary.

There is much to be learned in this book, although my copy is antiquated and would not be helpful to someone interested in popular slang or present day terms.

Still, when there's nothing much else to do, it does provide some interesting reading.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS AND AUTHORS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, March 10, 2010

By 

Socrates - See all my reviews

This review is from: Usage and Abusage: A Guide to Good English (Revised edition) (Paperback)

I can't live without Eric Partridge's books on my shelves. I have been collecting his works for over 40 years, he has done a SPECTACULAR job of educating all of us.

AN ESSENTIAL PART OF ANY BOOK COLLECTION, and absolutely Vital for any writer.

His unbelievable research into early English slang, Origins, and Cliches (which most of us misunderstand at the best of times and thus use incorrectly), are just endlessly fascinating, and I recommend Partridge, beginning with this particular book - 'Usage and Abusage' - as a first-time read, to everyone.

You won't be sorry.