Tag Archives: Simon Heffer

“Basically … rather good”

Posted on July 13, 2016 by Ingrid Tieken

Just decided to check up on the reception of Simon Heffer’s new (well, two years old by now) usage guide called Simply English, and found that Ben East, in The Guardian, described it as “basically … rather good”.  Interesting, in view … Continue reading →

Posted in usage guide | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Taggart vs. Pinker: and the winner is …

Posted on October 6, 2015 by Ingrid Tieken

I’d really like to be able to find out how well “our” usage guides, those in the HUGE database that is, have been selling over the years. This is confidential information, I was recently told by the firm handling the estate of … Continue reading →

Posted in news, usage guide | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Thumbs up for IKEA!

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Ingrid Tieken

One of Simon Heffer‘s pet hates is the use of singular they: “Being a pedant,” he writes, “I regard [its use] unacceptable” (2010:110). Unacceptable or not, singular they, as Mittins et al. point out in Attitudes to English Usage (1970!), has been … Continue reading →

Posted in news, usage features | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Onto doesn’t exist?

Posted on March 23, 2015 by Robin Straaijer

Last week, Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade published a post on Simon Heffer’s discussion of into on this blog. In his discussion of into in Strictly English, Heffer mentions a closely related usage item, the use of on to versus onto, of which … Continue reading →

Posted in usage features, usage guide | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Into or in to, really?

Posted on March 20, 2015 by Ingrid Tieken

As I wrote earlier on this blog, I’m reading Heffer’s Strictly English (2010). In chapter 4, called Bad Grammar, he discusses the difference between into and in to. I never knew there was such a distinction in English! Is there … Continue reading →

Posted in polls and surveys, usage features | Tagged | 7 Comments

On Heffer’s Strictly English

Posted on March 12, 2015 by Ingrid Tieken

For the book I’m writing on the usage guide as a genre I’m reading several usage guides. Now it is Simon Heffer’s turn. Strictly English, first published in 2010, I find, is a disturbing book (and I have only got through … Continue reading →

Posted in usage guide | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments