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| TROUBLESOME WORDS | 
 enlarge | Author: Bill Bryson
Publisher: Penguin
Category: Book
Buy Used: £1.84
Avg. Customer Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 76305
Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 192
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
ISBN: 0140266402
Dewey Decimal Number: 300
EAN: 9780140266405
ASIN: 0140266402
Publication Date: January 1, 1997
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Little River Books dispatch daily from South Wales. Customer satisfaction is our guarantee.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 Obsolete August 14, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words may have been useful twenty-five years ago, when it was first published, but it has become redundant. Most entries clarify word spellings and meanings, which a normal dictionary does just as well (with the advantage that it lists all words, not an arbitrary selection). A Google or Yahoo search will instantly clarify the rest, such as corporate names. Grammatical or stylistic advice is rarely given, and adds little to Strunk & White's better-organised and clearer The Elements of Style. And because of the dictionary format, that advice is buried in distant entries and hard to find. Nor does Bryson's manual lend itself to reading `like a novel', even if he wrote it with his customary humour. This is most likely to sit on your shelf.
 Masterful and masterly February 25, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review 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 August 1, 2006
26 out of 29 found this review 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 July 15, 2004
40 out of 44 found this review 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 June 15, 2004
17 out of 23 found this review 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!!!
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