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

For most of us non-Grammarians whose English is instinctive rather than based on intimate knowledge of linguistic rules, trying to improve our English by reading books in grammar or English usage can be quite an ordeal, as most of them are dry and technical. Bill Bryson's book is slim (192 pages in my edition), palatable and great fun. Alphabetically, Mr Bryson sets out the most common mistakes in English spelling, grammar and usage which he has come across. Most of the more obvious "troublesome words" are covered succinctly, clearly and with lashings of humour. Examples: "VERY should be made to pay its way in sentences"; "VARIOUS DIFFERENT is inescapably redundant"; "The Oxford English Dictionary contains 414,825 words. IRREGARDLESS is not one of them." At the end of the book is a section on punctuation. Illustrations of correct and incorrect usage are helpfully given. What adds to the fun is that most illustrations of wrong usage are taken from leading US and UK newspapers and periodicals, and even occasionally from an authority on the language; how nice to see their feet of clay. Another point in this book's favour; Mr Bryson being an American who has spent much of his professional life in the British journalistic profession, sees things from both sides of the Atlantic and does not have an overt bias one way or the other. (Unlike many British who have an almost hysterical aversion to Americanisms.)

While admirable and enjoyable, this book is too short and too personal to serve as a good reference. If you have a particular problem, it may or may not be addressed in this book. (This lack of comprehensiveness is why I give this four stars instead of five.) Nonetheless, anyone who studies and takes to heart the contents of this book will undoubtedly improve his English and will do his tiny part to stem the tide of sloppy and plain bad English which threatens to swamp us all today. It is a shame this book is out of print. I would love to send a copy to every journalist I know.

Finally, I must tell of how my edition of this book unwittingly demonstrates the pervasiveness of bad English and the desperation of the good fight against it. Mr Bryson says "FULSOME is one of the most frequently misused words in English. The sense that is usually accorded it - of being copious or lavish or unstinting - is almost the opposite of the word's dictionary meaning. FULSOME is related to FOUL and means odious and overfull, offensively insincere. 'Fulsome praise', properly used, isn't a lavish tribute; it is unctuous and insincere toadying." In my edition (1997 reissue of the second edition), the back page quotes the Guardian (a leading UK newspaper, for Americans who may not know), as saying "Deserves fulsome praise. Its merit is that it is trying to equate the rules prescribed by good English with the demands of the general consensus." Oh dear, indeed. Sabotaged by one's own publisher.