Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words：A Writer's Guide to Getting It Right

OneoftheEnglishlanguage’smostskilledandbelovedwritersguidesusalltowardprecise,mistake-freeusage.AsusualBillBrysonsaysitbest:“Englishisadazzlinglyidiosyncratictongue,fullofquirksandirregularitiesthatoftenseemwillfullyatoddswithlogicandcommonsense.Thisisalanguagewhere‘cleave’canmeantocutinhalfortoholdtwohalvestogether;wherethesimpleword‘set’has126differentmeaningsasaverb,58asanoun,and10asaparticipialadjective;whereifyoucanrunfastyouaremovingswiftly,butifyouarestuckfastyouarenotmovingatall;[and]where‘colonel,’‘freight,’‘once,’and‘ache’arestrikinglyatoddswiththeirspellings.”AsacopyeditorfortheLondonTimesintheearly1980s,BillBrysonfeltkeenlythelackofaneasy-to-consult,authoritativeguidetoavoidingthetrapsandsnaresinEnglish,andsohebrashlysuggestedtoapublisherthatheshouldwriteone.Surprisingly,thepropositionwasaccepted,andfor“asumofmoneycarefullygaugednottocauseembarrassmentorfeelingsofoverworth,”heproceededtowritethatbook–hisfirst,inauguratinghisstellarcareer.Now,adecadeandahalflater,revised,updated,andthoroughly(butnotoverly)Americanized,ithasbecomeBryson’sDictionaryofTroublesomeWords,morethaneveranessentialguidetothewonderfullydisorderedthingthatistheEnglishlanguage.Withsomeonethousandentries,from“a,an”to“zoom,”thatfeaturereal-worldexamplesofquestionableusagefromaninternationalarrayofpublications,andwithahelpfulglossaryandguidetopronunciation,thisprecise,prescriptive,and–becauseitiswrittenbyBillBryson–oftenwittybookbelongsonthedeskofeverypersonwhocaresenoughaboutthelanguagenottomaulormisuseordistortit.FromtheHardcoveredition.,