Troublesome Words

click here for more details, find new or used items	Bill Bryson Our price £6.74 (£8.99) New from £3.60 Used from £3.83 Pages: 256 (Paperback) ISBN: 0141001356 Pub: Penguin Books Ltd Pub date: 2002-09-26 Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 3289

Editorial Review:

Bryson modestly jokes that this alphabetically arranged book could be subtitled "Even More Things in English Usage That the Author Wasn't Entirely Clear about Until Quite Recently". If only most of us were sure about a fraction of the things Bryson clearly understands very well we might all be more effective writers and speakers. --Susan Elkin

Reader Reviews:

Masterful and masterly (0/0 people found this helpful)

Do you put 'spoonsful' or 'spoonfuls' of sugar into tea? Do you know the difference between defining and non-defining clauses and between 'androgynous' and 'androgenous'? Can you tell irony from sarcasm and a 'prophecy' from 'prophesy'? If all of this is second nature, you don't need this book. But you'd probably want to read it anyway.

The great triumph of Troublesome Words is that it's arranged like a dictionary but is interesting enough to read cover to cover as though it were a novel. It projects a sense of personality (Bryson's) and his values: companies' eccentric and convention-defying names - with backward facing letters, for example - should never be allowed to become 'a distraction in print'. It bears the hallmark of Bryson's distinctive style: conversational, witty and taut. All it lacks is a narrative.

Although essentially a work of reference, Brysonisms lighten the way. The entry for 'that' and 'which', for instance, advises brushing up on those clauses, defining and non- . 'Learning these distinctions is not, it must be said, anyone's idea of a good time, but it is one technical aspect of grammar that every professional user of English should understand because it is at the root of an assortment of grammatical errors.' And woe betide anyone who spells 'barbecue' with a 'q' and hyphens because they are clearly 'not ready for unsupervised employment'.

Other books of this type are more famous, authoritative and formidable - those by Fowler and Partridge in particular. But this is actually entertaining as well as instructive, and is also more up to date (and therefore more in touch with contemporary usage). It has my vote, anyway.

Trouble Averted (25/26 people found this helpful)

"The idea that you cannot use the word 'and' to begin a sentence is entirely without foundation. And that's all there is to it."

So begins one of the entries in this delightfully well-written aid. Unlike some books of this nature that can come across as preachy, pushy and arogant; Bryson's is none of these things. The main thrust of all his arguments is to seek out a common-sense answer to an all-too-common problem. In this venture, he succeeds greatly, delivering sound advice on when to use the right word at the right time.

There seems to have been a resurgence in interest for writing guides recently, but two things make this updated version stand out from a bloated market. Firstly, the fact that he uses actual examples, culled from journalisms' extenxive list of faux pas, to illustrate his points, and secondly, of course, his ever present humour and deft wit. The former makes this book one of the more helpful aids out there, the latter makes the experience intensely pleasurable.

Different Bryson (40/44 people found this helpful)

To me, a new Bryson makes the whole difference at any airport. Exactly the kind of books I need to keep me from dying of boredom - and they are usually a potent medicine! However, this particular book does not serve that purpose very well, and, indeed, was probably never intended to. Instead it is a very readable A-Z reference book on some of the trickier parts of the English language. Of course, it is very well written and certainly very humourous; somewhat akin to Lynn Truss's "Eats, Shoots & Leaves", even if her scope and approach are different. You will probably appreciate having this book in your book-shelf or, better still, on your desk, if you are at all serious about your writing. If you need a hilarious time-killer, I suggest you look for another Bryson book.

Thorough Read (17/22 people found this helpful)

Bill certainly summarises well and makes a difficult subject interesting. Unlike a fellow reviewer I would like to compliment Bill rather than complement him!!!

Perfect for the layperson. (61/62 people found this helpful)

I found this book very approachable and would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn a little bit more about the English language but doesn't have the time or inclination to plough through the more traditional style of language book.
It is organised alphabetically making it easy to dip into but is also fine to read straight through.

Examples are provided of the wrong way of doing things as well as the correct way which makes it easier to remember.
There are lots of examples of bad grammar taken from National newspapers to show you that even the professionals don't get it right. This gives the book a less formal approach, than say Fowler, and doesn't make you feel inferior just because you didn't know what a dangling modifier was.

Bill Bryson has selected a good range with examples of confusing spellings, punctuation, and grammar that will serve as an excellent starting point for anyone who wishes to take certain sections further.

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