Mind the Gaffe: The Penguin Guide to Common Errors in English

This is an excellent guide to English usage, common errors and much else.

Trask can spot pretentious nonsense at forty paces and, thankfully, doesn't sit on the fence. The result is an authoritative book that sometimes made me laugh out loud as the author exposes and debunks some of the myths and nonsense that are still regularly encountered.

I share his dislike of the incomprehensible affected twaddle that so many academics and managers inflict on us.

I've since read a number of R.L. Trask's books and they're all outstanding. 'Language: The Basics' is brilliant and his guide to punctuation is quite simply the clearest and best available. Mr Trask is a truly talented writer and communicator. I wish more academics could write and explain ideas like him.

Those starting out on trying to improve their English might just occasionally find it a bit deep. I'd say 'Troublesome Words' by Bill Bryson is an excellent companion, but I'd definitely want this book to go with it. Reading two different, and well written, explanations is often a great help when dealing with an unfamiliar topic.

I bought this book because of its witty punning title and Penguin's reputation for publishing excellent titles like the "Penguin Writer's Manual". But while the title may be witty, the content is not. "Mind the Gaffe" is an A-Z of words and phrases that the author wants to sound off about or thinks that you, dear reader, might get wrong. It starts with 'a, an', 'abattoir', 'abbreviations', and lumbers its pedantic way along to 'yours', 'yo-yo', '-yse, -yze', missing out 'yawn' along the way. Much of the book is taken up with dull entries like: "Accommodation: The word is so spelled with two Cs and two Ms. Do not write acommodation or accomodation."

The writing is turgid and opinionated. All the more surprising as this is supposed to be a book about writing. For one example from many, try this 56-word sentence from the entry on 'situated knowledges': "Anybody who believes that knowing that the moon is a huge rocky body orbiting the earth is just as 'situated', and hence just as valid, as 'knowing' that the moon is a glowing pumpkin hovering just above the treetops has a serious problem with reality, and should probably not operate machinery until this condition wears off." No, it's not funny, and it's not clever.

While it is not a good read, it is not a good reference book either. 'Inveterate' is a popular word for getting wrong, but is one of many omissions from the book. Many of the entries are vague and generalised, like the one for 'foreign names' that encourages the user to "consult a good reference book" (not this one, then).

For a witty book about the English language, buy Lynne Truss's "Eats, Shoots and Leaves". If in need of a good dictionary, the Collins English Dictionary is excellent. For checking spelling, any word processor will do.

This is an excellent book. Writing forms a large part of my work and I refer to this book almost every day. I encourage others to do the same.

Anyone who yearns for plain English and despairs at pompous, officious writing will find the book a joy to read. The subtitle of this book `Common Errors in English' is a very accurate description of the contents. These errors are very common; so common are they that many came as a complete surprise to me. And I thought I knew my stuff.

Written in a wry style, this book should be on the desk of anyone who writes regularly. The page on split infinitives is worth the admission price, because never again will you worry about such nonsense.

I'm glad i only borrowed this book from a local library and did not buy it. Whilst some readers may find it very useful, I found it too 'heavy' a read. It takes quite a serious tone, and as I am not a professional author etc, i didn't find it a hugely beneficial read. I would recommend something like Who's Whose, as I certainly found Who's Whose a much more light-hearted read, with more interesting information. This book however i recommend to only serious writers and people writing for worldwide audiences.

For all of us language nerds, it is immensely reassuring to find that someone else cares as much as we do, knows a lot more than we do, and is better at presenting his material than we could ever hope to be. This book is alphabetically arranged (is there any other way, for us nerds?) and covers a selection of pitfalls in the English language, both at word and syntax level. Does it tell me things I didn't already know? Certainly, but I'm afraid any dull grammar does that - the winning ingredient in this book is its dry (dare I say acerbic?) humor, which mocks pretentiousness and reveals how muddled language is always a symptom of muddled thinking, no matter how many syllables or buzz-words have been used. Another plus is its willingness to take a stand, and tell the reader which solution is the preferable one. Of course, in an academic language study, the descriptive approach is the only one, but when it comes to usage guides, prescription is definitely called for, even if it smacks of school-marmish pontificating, and the author sits bravely, but securely, in the saddle of his language high horse.