100 Words Almost Everyone Mixes Up Or Mangles

Eliminate mistakes and improve your vocabulary with this engaging guide to the world’s most misused words. Do you know your delegate from your relegate, your cachet from your cache? At one time or another we’ve all suffered the embarrassment of having our remarks corrected by a family member, colleague, or stranger. 100 Words Almost Everyone Mixes Up or Mangles presents fifty pairs of words that people have trouble getting right and keeping straight—words that tend to get corrected when we’re least expecting it. These words include near-synonyms—words with subtle but important distinctions in meaning—like baleful vs. baneful, and effectual vs. efficacious. Other pairings bring together notorious sound-alikes, like faze (bother) vs. phase (stage), pour (put in fluid) vs. pore (read closely), and waive (forgo) vs. wave (say hello). The book also addresses some classic spelling blunders and “nonwords,” like beyond the pail, full reign, injust, and inobstrusive. Each word has a definition and a pronunciation, and most have etymologies explaining the word’s origin. The mix-ups themselves are described in fun-to-read notes that provide clear solutions to help readers avoid making needless, uncomfortable gaffes. 100 Words Almost Everyone Mixes Up or Mangles gives readers the chance to improve their command of words that are often heard but just as often misused.

"100 Words Almost Everyone Mixes Up or Mangles" presents 50 pairs of words that people have trouble getting right and keeping straight--including near-synonyms, notorious sound-alikes, classic spelling blunders, and nonwords like "inobstrusive."

The latest offering in the 100 Words series from the editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries, this reference book helps students in the upper grades of elementary school learn the vocabulary words they need to know to understand the world around them.

The Author’s work reflects researching the intricacies of the English language. The section about spelling reinforces the point that learning to spell words is a matter of memorization, given the immense number of exceptions to every rule of spelling. One cannot simply spell a word by using the letters that one hears when saying the word. English is an exceptionally difficult language both to learn and to teach, as clearly pointed out in both No Stinkin’ Grammar I and the current volume. I urge English teachers to read these books, not only for further knowledge of the English language, but also to remind themselves that the teaching of English grammar, writing, and spelling is a monumental and essential task. No Stinkin’ Grammar II delves deeply into the intricacies of the English language. The Author’s insight is presented in an easy-to-read, sometimes humorous approach. He presents information from the viewpoint of a writer who is challenged by the “stinkin’ grammar” of the exceptional English language.

This latest installment in the bestselling 100 Word series settles the score on 100 controversies and misconceptions about words with difficult or slippery pronunciations.

Avoid vocabulary mistakes with this fun guide to tricky and troublesome words! With concise and authoritative usage notes from the editors of the American Heritage® Dictionaries, this guide explains common English-language errors—whether it’s mixing up affect and effect; blatant and flagrant; or disinterested and uninterested, or stumbling over sound-alikes including discrete/discreet or principal/principle. Other notes tackle such classic irritants as hopefully, impact, and aggravate, as well as problematic words like peruse and presently. A great read for anyone who cares about getting it right, 100 Words Almost Everyone Confuses and Misuses can help keep writers and speakers on the up-and-up!

"Walter Abish has dovetailed his novel within a Procrustean scheme that has the terrifying and irrefutable logic of the alphabet. Alphabetical Africa is in the line of writers such as Raymond Roussel, Raymond Queneau, Georges Perec and Harry Mathews, who have used constrictive forms to penetrate the space on the other side of poetry." -- John Ashbery