When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It: The Parts of Speech, for Better and/or Worse
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.74 (610 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0767920783 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 256 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-06-11 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Using the parts of speech as signposts, he charts an amiable path between those critics for whom any alterations to established grammar are hateful and those who believe whatever people use in speech is by default acceptable. 13)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. Some of this territory is familiar—Yagoda even boils down the debate over "hopefully" to outline form—but every chapter has gems tucked inside, like the section in pronouns on the "t
He lives in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. BEN YAGODA teaches English at the University of Delaware, and is the author of four books, including The Sound on the Page and About Town: The New Yorker and the World It Made. He has contributed to Slate, the New York Times Book Review, the American Scholar, Rolling Stone and Esquire, and writes an occasional column on language for the Chronicle of Higher
Marvel at how a single word can shift from adverb (“I did okay”), to adjective (“It was an okay movie”), to interjection (“Okay!”), to noun (“I gave my okay”), to verb (“Who okayed this?”), depending on its use. What do you get when you mix nine parts of speech, one great writer, and generous dashes of insight, humor, and irreverence? One phenomenally entertaining language book.In his waggish yet authoritative book, Ben Yagoda has managed to undo the dark work of legions of English teachers and libraries of dusty grammar texts. Read, and discover a book whose pop culture references, humorous asides, and bracing doses of discernment and common senseconvey Yagoda’s unique sense of the “beauty, the joy, the artistry, and the fun of language.”. Read If You Catch an Adjective, Kill It and:Learn how to write better with classic advice from writers such as Mark Twain (“If you catch an adjective, kill it”), Stephen King (“I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs”), and Gertrude Stein (“Nouns are completely not interesting”). Avoid the pretentious pr
The Parts of Speech Can Be Fun Rob Hardy Among writers of English, there is a strong interest in their own language, and a long tradition of manuals by writers who suggest how to use English without error. Ambrose Bierce wrote such a manual, and writers constantly refer (but not necessarily defer) to Fowler, and many can quote Strunk and White from memory. For some reason, contemporary writers on the subject of E. Stanley H. Nemeth said "Current Reflections On the Parts Of Speech'. The author takes readers on an informative and often entertaining walk through Fowler and Follett territory, contemporary usage. Neither a strict prescriptivist nor a lax descriptivist, Yagoda has good things to say about some much maligned current uses of "like," and some delightfully nasty ones about such a locution as "Mom." What distinguishes his presentation, and is e. Childish and repetitive Looking for some writing help or ideas for a class? Try anything else, including but not limited to Strunk and White's Elements of Style. Their book might be 'old' but at least it's not ridiculous.