{"product_id":"brysons-dictionary-of-troublesome-words-a-writers-guide-to-getting-it-right-paperback","title":"Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words: A Writer's Guide to Getting It Right - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eBill Bryson\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eOne of the English language's most skilled and beloved writers guides us all toward precise, mistake-free grammar. \u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e As usual Bill Bryson says it best: \"English is a dazzlingly idiosyncratic tongue, full of quirks and irregularities that often seem willfully at odds with logic and common sense. This is a language where 'cleave' can mean to cut in half or to hold two halves together; where the simple word 'set' has 126 different meanings as a verb, 58 as a noun, and 10 as a participial adjective; where if you can run fast you are moving swiftly, but if you are stuck fast you are not moving at all;  and] where 'colonel, ' 'freight, ' 'once, ' and 'ache' are strikingly at odds with their spellings.\" As a copy editor for the London\u003ci\u003e Times\u003c\/i\u003e in the early 1980s, Bill Bryson felt keenly the lack of an easy-to-consult, authoritative guide to avoiding the traps and snares in English, and so he brashly suggested to a publisher that he should write one. Surprisingly, the proposition was accepted, and for \"a sum of money carefully gauged not to cause embarrassment or feelings of overworth,\" he proceeded to write that book--his first, inaugurating his stellar career. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Now, a decade and a half later, revised, updated, and thoroughly (but not overly) Americanized, it has become \u003ci\u003eBryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words\u003c\/i\u003e, more than ever an essential guide to the wonderfully disordered thing that is the English language. With some one thousand entries, from \"a, an\" to \"zoom,\" that feature real-world examples of questionable usage from an international array of publications, and with a helpful glossary and guide to pronunciation, this precise, prescriptive, and--because it is written by Bill Bryson--often witty book belongs on the desk of every person who cares enough about the language not to maul or misuse or distort it.\u003ch3\u003eFront Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne of the English language's most skilled and beloved writers guides us all toward precise, mistake-free usage. \u003cbr\u003eAs usual Bill Bryson says it best: \"English is a dazzlingly idiosyncratic tongue, full of quirks and irregularities that often seem willfully at odds with logic and common sense. This is a language where 'cleave' can mean to cut in half or to hold two halves together; where the simple word 'set' has 126 different meanings as a verb, 58 as a noun, and 10 as a participial adjective; where if you can run fast you are moving swiftly, but if you are stuck fast you are not moving at all; [and] where 'colonel, ' 'freight, ' 'once, ' and 'ache' are strikingly at odds with their spellings.\" As a copy editor for the London\" Times in the early 1980s, Bill Bryson felt keenly the lack of an easy-to-consult, authoritative guide to avoiding the traps and snares in English, and so he brashly suggested to a publisher that he should write one. Surprisingly, the proposition was accepted, and for \"a sum of money carefully gauged not to cause embarrassment or feelings of overworth,\" he proceeded to write that book-his first, inaugurating his stellar career. \u003cbr\u003eNow, a decade and a half later, revised, updated, and thoroughly (but not overly) Americanized, it has become \"Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words, more than ever an essential guide to the wonderfully disordered thing that is the English language. With some one thousand entries, from \"a, an\" to \"zoom,\" that feature real-world examples of questionable usage from an international array of publications, and with a helpful glossary and guide to pronunciation, this precise, prescriptive, and-because it is written by Bill Bryson-oftenwitty book belongs on the desk of every person who cares enough about the language not to maul or misuse or distort it. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"From the Hardcover edition.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBill Bryson\u003c\/b\u003e's bestselling books include \u003ci\u003eA Walk in the Woods\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eA Short History of Nearly Everything\u003c\/i\u003e (which won the Aventis Prize in Britain and the Descartes Prize, the European Union's highest literary award). He was chancellor of Durham University, England's third oldest university, from 2005 to 2011, and is an honorary fellow of Britain's Royal Society.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 256\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.56 x 8.06 x 5.26 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e September 14, 2004\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53336781783405,"sku":"9780767910439","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1001\/0823\/9213\/files\/eEFhUVZmdVBPcS9qb1FPY28xSzY2Zz09.webp?v=1778918673","url":"https:\/\/cleanfreaklab.myshopify.com\/products\/brysons-dictionary-of-troublesome-words-a-writers-guide-to-getting-it-right-paperback","provider":"Clean Freak Lab","version":"1.0","type":"link"}