The usage guide seems a typical English – British as well as American – phenomenon, though one of our commenters, Nadia Petrova, has already drawn our attention to the fact that they are also popular in Russia today.

But what are they called in other languages? How do we refer to a usage guide in Dutch, for instance? Are they known as taalhandboeken, or taalhandleidingen? How would you describe the book Eten, vuren en beuken: keiharde regels voor interpunctie by Lynne Truss and Wim Daniëls for instance?

And what about the French or German term for usage guides?