A Dictionary of Contemporary American Usage

The book details:

• Title: A Dictionary of Contemporary American Usage.
• Author(s): Bergen Evans and Cornelia Evans.
• Publisher: Random House.
• Language: American English.
•  Size: 6.52 Mb.
• Format: PDF.
• Date: 2000 (1st Edition, 1957).
• Pages: 574 .

It is sad that "a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy" should be known to us only through such a threadbare quotation. Alas, indeed, poor Yorick! There is another line from Hamlet that should always be uttered after this one: "What, has this thing appear'd again tonight?" Or, if one perceives that it is about to be spoken, appeal to the speaker's better nature: "Refrain tonight, and that shall lend a kind of easiness to the next abstinence." And if he does forbear: "For this relief, much thanks."

The subject of cliches did not leave me until I encountered the lyrics of Bob Dylan. Initially I was underwhelmed and then amazed at how many cliches he could pack into any given song. And then at some point a light dawned on me and I realized that Dylan had invented a new poetic device: expression by cliche! Instead of using mere words in metaphorical and rhythmic ways, he used familiar phrases. Oh my, my, my what would the Evanses have thought?


One of the things that the Evanses do that is not done in usage books much anymore is to make distinctions of usage between words that are not necessarily confused but have different shades of meaning or connotation. Thus one entry is for "inquire; ask; demand; question." Most people for whom English is the native language can use these words appropriately and would say that the bank robber "demanded" the money, not that he "asked" for it. (And certainly not that he "inquired" about it.) Here the Evanses point out that "ask" is "the everyday word" and that "inquire...always implies asking about something specific."

Another thing they do well is to explain the origin and meaning of many words, phrases and idioms that we commonly use without thinking. For example in their entry for "make bricks without straw" the Evanses give the origin of the phrase (from Exodus), explain what it originally meant, how it is misused and misunderstood, and, in this case, finally dismiss it as "worn out with overuse."

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