I’m working on a publication history of Fowler’s Modern English Usage, along the lines of R.C. Alston’s Bibliography of the English Language from the Invention of Printing to 1800. For this, I need to have information on the publication of reprints … Continue reading
Usage guides seem to be a typical English language product. As for Dutch, I was only aware of the existence of Eten, vuren en beuken: keiharde regels voor interpunctie by Wim Daniëls, a Dutch version of Lynne Truss’s Eats shoots and leaves. A … Continue reading
It sometimes pays off to visit second-hand bookshops in search of usage guides: yesterday, I found a first edition of The Concise Usage & Abusage by Eric Partridge. A signed copy as well! The book was published in 1954, there is a … Continue reading
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Kingsley Amis distinguishes two types of people in his amusing usage guide The King’s English based on their attitudes and usage: berks & wankers. These terms he quite obviously uses in absolutely nothing else but their most strictly technical sense as … Continue reading
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This was the question asked on the page-a-day calendar published by Genootschap Onze Taal for 4 June 2004. The answer is, obviously, not the same for English as it is for Dutch. The most successful Dutch usage manual, Onze Taal … Continue reading
Fowler is Funny by Paul Bennett, freelance copyeditor I have no religion except Fowlerism. I am a devout follower of Fowler, and when you make the decision to be devout, you must be prepared to defend your saviour. I have … Continue reading
Kate Wild, one of our contributors, has kindly lent us two copies of her usage guides: anon., A Dictionary of Daily Blunders. London: Whittaker & Co (1880) anon. Many Mistakes Mended. New York: N. Tibbals & Sons (1886). The first of this … Continue reading
Which usage guide do you normally consult? We’d be interested in finding out about readers’ preferences for particular usage guides. What do you consult them for (that is, if you do consult them …), and how frequently? Do you always find … Continue reading
In 2009, the first edition of Fowler’s Modern English Usage (1926) was reprinted by Oxford University Press, as part of their World Classics Series. In the introduction, David Crystal assesses Fowler’s status as a writer of this popular usage guide, as well as the book … Continue reading
The pocket edition of Fowler’s Modern English Usage is available online. You can access it if you have access to the Oxford English Dictionary. On the OED homepage, click on Oxford Reference Online, then on English Language Reference, on Pocket Fowler’s Modern English Usage: … Continue reading
Bridging the Unbridgeable 