Book description
What is the difference between cant and jargon, or assume and
presume? What is a fandango? How do you spell supersede? Is it hippy
or hippie?
These questions really matter to Bill Bryson, as they do to anyone
who cares about the English language. Originally published as The
Penguin Dictionary for Writers and Editors, Bryson's
Dictionary for Writers and Editors has now been completely
revised and updated for the twenty-first century by Bill Bryson
himself. Here is a very personal selection of spellings and usages,
covering such head-scratchers as capitalization, plurals,
abbreviations and foreign names and phrases. Bryson also gives us the
difference between British and American usages, and miscellaneous
pieces of essential information you never knew you needed, like the
names of all the Oxford colleges, or the correct spelling of
Brobdingnag.
An indispensable companion to all those who write, work with the
written word, or who just enjoy getting things right, it gives rulings
that are both authoritative and commonsense,all in Bryson's own
inimitably goodhumoured way.
Bill Bryson is much loved for his bestselling travel books, from
The Lost Continent to Down Under, but Notes from a
Small Island has earned a particularly special place in the
nation's heart (a national poll for World Book Day in 2003 voted it
the book that best represents Britain). His acclaimed A Short
History of Nearly Everything won the Aventis Prize for Science
Books and the Descartes Science Communication Prize. He has now
returned to live in the UK with his wife and family.
www. billbryson. co. uk
