Overview

Can anything be described as 'very real'? There are so many obstacles on the way to writing clear, precise ('accurate'?) English ('english'?) that it is a wonder ('wander'?) anyone ('any one' or 'anyone'?) can be understood. Fortunately, all those who have ever feared being shown up by using one of the twenty worst words and phrases to be avoided at all costs, or confusing the complex with the complicated, can now relax and even enjoy a trouble-shooting guide to good writing. Trask's wonderfully readable and authoritative book adjudicates on hundreds of contentious issues from politically correct language to whether to write 'napkin' or 'serviette'.

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9780140514766

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Reviews

The English language is a minefield; descended from Anglo-Saxon with a strong helping of Norman French and influence from numerous other tongues, it has been complicated further by the invention (often after the fact) of hundreds of rules governing its usage, from those which treat English as if it were Latin to those based on spurious social or political justifications. This thorough and sensible guide treads a clear path through the wilderness, describing and resolving problems with an uncompromising directness leavened by frequent dashes of humour. All the common pitfalls (disinterested or uninterested? any one or anyone?) are here, arranged in alphabetical order, and several usages we now take for granted are revealed as nonsensical - such as drink-driving rather than the correct drunken-driving; you don't drive when drink, you drive when drunk. Most importantly, the handbook focuses not on arcane points of grammar but on clarity of meaning; complicated distinctions are worth preserving if they enable us to express ourselves more fully. This is an excellent and invaluable reference work which will be of use to everyone who speaks and writes English, whatever their competence level; although inevitably the people who would derive most benefit from this book are the least likely to use it. (Kirkus UK)

Author Information

Larry Trask is the author of such well-received books as The Penguin Guide to Punctuation and The Penguin Dictionary of English Grammar. He was born in western New York State in 1944 and came to England in 1970. He now teaches at the School of Cognitive and Computing Sciences at the University of Sussex.

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