The Penguin Dictionary of American English Usage and Style

The book details:

• Title: The Penguin Dictionary of American English Usage and Style.
• Author(s): Paul W. Lovinger.
• Publisher: Penguin.
• Language: American English.
• Size: 1.92 Mb.
• Format: PDF .
• Date: 2001 .
• Pages: 506.

 his alphabetically arranged resource features specific words and general-usage topics that can confound readers, writers, and editors alike. Typical usage errors include referring to "Frankenstein's monster" as "Frankenstein," using "try and" instead of "try to," and describing a parallel or coincidental situation as "ironic." The 75 topic entries cover subjects as varied as abbreviations, collective nouns, homophones, prepositions, punctuation, and, interestingly, Iran, often erroneously referred to as Arab.

This compact reference work will prove handy for users struggling with the differences between flaunt and flout; gantlet, gauntlet, and gamut; hypothesis and theory; and homophonic terms such as allude/elude or persecute/prosecute. Numerous cross references and 2000 richly contemporary examples replete with quotations add to this tool's usefulness. Lovinger is a former reporter and newspaper columnist, and many of the examples are derived from the world of journalism.

Despite this emphasis on media usage, this is still a worthwhile purchase for libraries that already own The New Fowler's Modern English Usage (LJ 3/15/97). Recommended for wordsmiths, arbiters of good usage, and larger collections.DElizabeth Connor, Medical Univ. of South Carolina Lib., Charleston
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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