|
100 Words Almost Everyone Confuses and Misuses (The 100 Words) :: 0618493336
Description
| Product Description |
|
The 100 Words series continues to set the standard for measuring and improving vocabulary, with a new title focusing on words that are best known for getting people into linguistic trouble. 100 Words Almost Everyone Confuses and Misuses is the perfect book for anyone seeking clear and sensible guidance on avoiding the recognized pitfalls of the English language.
Each word on the list is accompanied by a concise and authoritative usage note based on the renowned usage program of the American Heritage® Dictionaries. These notes discuss why a particular usage has been criticized and explain the rules and conventions that determine what"s right, what"s wrong, and what falls in between. Troublesome pairs such as affect / effect, blatant / flagrant, and disinterested / uninterested are disentangled, as are vexing sound-alikes such as discrete / discreet and principal / principle. Other notes tackle such classic irritants as hopefully, impact, and aggravate, as well as problematic words like peruse and presently.
A great graduation gift or stocking stuffer for anyone who cares about language, 100 Words Almost Everyone Confuses and Misuses is guaranteed to help keep writers and speakers on the up-and-up!Editorial Descriptions are usually submitted by the manufacturers, publishers and authors. Contact us if you are one of them, and wish to change the above description. |
Reviews
Customer feedback
|
|
Voting |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Guest
An excellent introduction to commonly misused words. Although
basic, the book could be a useful tool for the average speaker
and writer of English.
|
Author: Guest
To me, this book was simply a dictionary of 100 words sorted in alphabetical order. What I was hoping for was a book that would describe the common misuses of words and separate out differences between misused words. Instead, it seems each word was just simply stated and then defined. It's a great book to simply read about words and their meanings, but just wasn't what I expected. Not an expensive book, so I'm not complaining too much.
|
Author: Guest
If you need this book, you will not understand it. If you understand it, you don't need it! Unless you were the one student in thousands whose jaw dropped in rapt fascination when your seventh-grade teacher diagrammed the parts of speech, you will not follow the alleged explanations in this book. The explanations come straight out of that seventh-grade grammar text. Such and such a word is the intransitive past participle of another word. There, that cleared it up, didn't it! There is almost never a simple declarative sentence about how to use a confusing word... here is a lovely example from page 88...
"The adjective precipitate and the adverb precipitately were once applied to physical steepness but are now used primarily of rash, headlong actions. Precipitous currently means "steep" in both literal and figuratrive senses: 'the precipitous rapids of the upper river; a precipitous drop in commodity prices.' But precipitous and precipitously are also frequently used to mean "abrupt, hasty," which takes tham into territory what would ordinarily belong to precipitate and precipitately..."
Hope that cleared it up for you!
This book suffers from "junior high math teacher's syndrome," where if you didn't understand the problem, and found the courage to raise your hand, the teacher just looked at you as if you'd just gotten off the special-ed bus and repeated exactly the same indecipherable explanation using the exact same words, only slightly slower and with more condescension.
The writers of this book are dictionary editors, and therefore presume that telling us the part of speech and Greek or Latin derivation will make things clear. They do not. I write for a living, in part. I do not think I found one confusing word clarified by this book in a way I will incorporate in my work.
|
Author: Guest
Anyone who writes, be it for business or pleasure can surely benefit from this slim 100-word volume presented by the American Heritage Dictionary people who have prepared other such guides like "100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know" An "100 Words Every High School Freshman Should Know."
Instead of targeting SAT word-building wannabees, this book presents a quick desktop reference for those words that when mispelled and misused in writing, perilously changes the meaning of the sentence. My personal bete noir pairs--- "effect" versus "affect", "augur" and "auger" and "lie" and "lay"--- are covered here starting with a simple definition, explanation of the part of speech, etymology, related words, sentence examples and most importantly ends with a usage problem label that warns the writer of possible difficulties when applying the word in a sentence.
All words are alphabetically listed meaning that confusing pairs like "affect" and "effect" will not necessarily be discussed sequentially. However, the usage note will alert the writer to the word's most confused mate and direct one to the appropriately numbered (1-100)word.
The book does not contain an index where the confused pairs could have been listed together as another form of possible language misusage nor does it provide cross-referenced page numbers. However, the wealth of information provided for each word makes the $4.95 fee for purchase a worthy and timeless value.
Bottom line: "100 Words almost Everyone Confuses $ Misuses" is a great reference for any writer, particularly those for whom English is a second language. Recommended for all who write.
|
Author: Guest
The whole family can readily appreciate 100 Words Almost Everyone Misuses & Confuses: the format lends to browsing but highlights and outlines selected 100 words, presenting their definitions, common usage, and examples. The focus on how these selections are commonly misused adds impact and clarification.
|
Send to Friend
Send to friend
|
|
