Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words: A Writer's Guide to Getting It Right

This would make an interesting, informative and entertaining addition to anybody's book collection. It is not a book you would read from cover to cover but more a book you would use for reference.

Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words may have been useful twenty-five years ago, when it was first published, but it has become redundant. Most entries clarify word spellings and meanings, which a normal dictionary does just as well (with the advantage that it lists all words, not an arbitrary selection). A Google or Yahoo search will instantly clarify the rest, such as corporate names. Grammatical or stylistic advice is rarely given, and adds little to Strunk & White's better-organised and clearer The Elements of Style. And because of the dictionary format, that advice is buried in distant entries and hard to find. Nor does Bryson's manual lend itself to reading `like a novel', even if he wrote it with his customary humour. This is most likely to sit on your shelf.

Do you put 'spoonsful' or 'spoonfuls' of sugar into tea? Do you know the difference between defining and non-defining clauses and between 'androgynous' and 'androgenous'? Can you tell irony from sarcasm and a 'prophecy' from 'prophesy'? If all of this is second nature, you don't need this book. But you'd probably want to read it anyway.

The great triumph of Troublesome Words is that it's arranged like a dictionary but is interesting enough to read cover to cover as though it were a novel. It projects a sense of personality (Bryson's) and his values: companies' eccentric and convention-defying names - with backward facing letters, for example - should never be allowed to become 'a distraction in print'. It bears the hallmark of Bryson's distinctive style: conversational, witty and taut. All it lacks is a narrative.

Although essentially a work of reference, Brysonisms lighten the way. The entry for 'that' and 'which', for instance, advises brushing up on those clauses, defining and non- . 'Learning these distinctions is not, it must be said, anyone's idea of a good time, but it is one technical aspect of grammar that every professional user of English should understand because it is at the root of an assortment of grammatical errors.' And woe betide anyone who spells 'barbecue' with a 'q' and hyphens because they are clearly 'not ready for unsupervised employment'.

Other books of this type are more famous, authoritative and formidable - those by Fowler and Partridge in particular. But this is actually entertaining as well as instructive, and is also more up to date (and therefore more in touch with contemporary usage). It has my vote, anyway.

Mr Bryson turns his experience as a sub-editor to the art of 'getting it right' in written English. Great for settling those arguments about correct usuage and for those niggly aspects of grammar you just can't quite remember from your schooldays.

As I pored through this book (oh crikey, is that the right spelling of 'pored'?), one thing kept going through my mind: how on earth will I remember all these things?!
There's just so much in here; the English language is such a labyrinthine, potentially perplexing thing (oops, was that correct use of 'labyrinthine'?). You half want to say, oh the heck with it. As you read, you test yourself on what has gone before when a definition refers back to another. 'Just give me a second to remember...' you cry, and then curse yourself when you can't.
My second point is this: many of the meanings and usages of words continue to change and there's very little we can do about it. Bryson and others may like to insist that, eg media remains plural, but idiom forces it to bend another way. He occasionally admits that idiom is tough to battle against, but does so anyway. If he was around in 500 years (oo, do I need an apostrophe there?) time I suspect he will be disappointed with the change in meaning of many words. But why fight it? It's a losing battle in many cases.
In conclusion, this is an engrossing book for anyone who loves words, and comes highly recommended. BB's sardonic wit is kept in check but the book's content allows for much gentle humour.