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FREE FOWLERS DICTIONARY OF MODERN ENGLISH USAGE PDF H W Fowler,Fellow of the British Academy and Senior Research Fellow Jeremy Butterfield | 928 pages | 01 Jun 2015 | Oxford University Press | 9780199661350 | English | Oxford, United Kingdom A Dictionary of Modern English Usage - Wikipedia Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Ernest A. Gowers Editor. It covers topics such as plurals and literary technique, distinctions among like Fowlers Dictionary of Modern English Usage homonyms and synonymsand the use of foreign terms. This book is intended for general; students and teachers of English; anyone wanting guidance on the correct use of English. Get A Copy. Paperbackpages. More Details Original Title. Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 4. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Nov 23, Rachel rated it liked it Recommends it for: users of english. Shelves: nonfiction. Although I Fowlers Dictionary of Modern English Usage not find this book truly useful, I do find it amusing. Here is the part about French words: Display of superior knowledge is as great a vulgarity as display of superior wealth -- greater indeed, inasmuch as knowledge should tend more definitely than wealth towards discretion and good manners. That is the guiding principle alike in the using and in the pronouncing of French words in English writing and talk. To use French words that your reader or hearer does not understand, to pron Although I do not find this book truly useful, I do find it amusing. To use French words that your reader or hearer does not understand, to pronounce them as if you were one of the Fowlers Dictionary of Modern English Usage few to whom French is second nature when he is not one of those few and it is ten thousand to one that neither you Fowlers Dictionary of Modern English Usage he will beis inconsiderate and rude. View all 3 comments. Sep 13, Stephen rated it really liked it Shelves: easton-pressreference. This is on the short list of the best reference books around. It is not accurate to say that I have "read" this entire book but I have been using it fairly extensively since I acquired it in as part of an 8 volume leather bound set from Easton Press Fowlers Dictionary of Modern English Usage the "Complete Oxford Reference Set. Mar 17, Daniel rated it really liked it Shelves: books-about-writing. Fowler's "Modern English Usage" is one of those books that really has no business existing: a reference guide that's fun to read. You could spend hours flipping from entry to entry -- especially since many of the entries make reference to others -- discovering all the mistakes you've been making in your writing over the years. Because H. Fowler was incredibly opinionated check out his stance, for example, on the use of "preface" vs. Perhaps the modern revisions which I'm unfamiliar with -- I was lucky enough to find an edition from the '20s are more functional, but they couldn't possibly be any more Fowlers Dictionary of Modern English Usage. Jan 27, Bob Nichols rated it did not like it. This book has a few gems to educate the reader on the history of usage and to correct some common misunderstandings and mistakes. But these are hidden in a mass of detail. The book is plagued with the following defects: 1 too often Fowler takes forever, if ever, to make his point and, even then, his point is not frequently clear; 2 on the issue of clarity, Fowler lapses into his own considerable jargon so that, for example, "'of' is here not partitive but appositional" and it is even now more This book has a few gems to educate the reader on the history of usage and to correct some common misunderstandings and mistakes. Fowlers Dictionary of Modern English Usage book is plagued with the following defects: 1 too often Fowler takes forever, if ever, to make his point and, even then, his point is not frequently clear; 2 on the issue of clarity, Fowler lapses into his own considerable jargon so that, for example, "'of' is here not partitive but appositional" and it is even now more understandable why students hate English; 3 he occasionally goes off on what seems to be his own exercise in rank e. In reading some of the reviews of this book, it is understandable why many do appreciate what Fowler has done. To read through pages of dictionary style treatment on usage generally would require that level of appreciation. But as a general guide for those not so enthused with all this detail, Fowler seems dated recent, not modern, Englishand overly obsessive and obscure. He would go nuts today's computer age. If two thirds of his book were eliminated, it would be a valuable reference guide, but then it wouldn't be Fowler either. Aug 11, Simon rated it it was amazing. Fowler is truly the most english of englishmen. This is a righteously indignant, uptight, catty look at how language should and shouldn't be used. While the second edition was mildly updated in by Sir Ernest Gowers, it remains in essence a turn of the century work. Just plain fun to read. Jun 20, Sammy rated it really liked it Shelves: non-fiction. I have to agree with the more erudite reviews already posted: in some ways, this is a 5-star Fowlers Dictionary of Modern English Usage. In others, it's a write-off. As a writer myself, I find Fowler to be one of the pre-eminent reference texts. He covers a vast range of words and phrases - from the regularly misused to archaisms which, when they are used, need clarifying - with a wit that often borders on scathing. It's great fun to be searching for a simple definition or clarification, and end up having a good giggle at the same ti I have to agree with the more erudite reviews already posted: in some ways, this is a Fowlers Dictionary of Modern English Usage work. It's great fun to be searching for a simple definition Fowlers Dictionary of Modern English Usage clarification, and end up having a good giggle at the same time. Because the book was written in the 'glory days' of the early 20th century, Fowler takes time to explain his stance, without resorting to dumbing down the information. On the other hand, as other commentators have noted, one Fowlers Dictionary of Modern English Usage the joys of the English language is its evolution. I believe that the history of a word is vitally important, that Fowlers Dictionary of Modern English Usage more than simply competent in your language is a great gift, and thus am I against these dimwitted arguments to simplify our spelling, or limit our general vocabulary in academic institutions or the media. However, language is in a state of constant flux, and to argue that there is only ever one correct usage of a word or term is ridiculous. Something that was correct in for Fowler may be ludicrous for us inand may have been equally so for Elizabeth I, or Samuel Johnson, or Jane Austen. Beyond this, Fowler seems to be confused about the distinction between formal and informal language use. Is idomatic English to be held to the same standards as formal documents? Isn't one of the joys of being proficient in your language, that you can stretch the boundaries of meaning and definition - both in a parodic, conversational manner, and in a serious way? As with anyone who grows passionate about a subject that is steeped in tradition, I always feel torn in these situations: to revere Fowler for his wit, intelligence, and passion? Or bemoan him for being a pedant? The question lingers The edition was riveting, the sort of prose that seduces your snarky mind and infects your dreams. Logical, romantic, hilarious: the firmest virtues. This thick modern update is a bag of wind, a pail of Sominex. Consult it if you need to, but don't say I didn't warn you if the resulting narcolepsy puts you off your game. Years ago, I fell in love with Fowler's righteous wrath, his irony, his impeccable use of Oxford comma. Whenever I feel down, I open this book and read a random entry. Should you read it? Should you own it and peruse Fowlers Dictionary of Modern English Usage every now and then? Spoilers below. His examples and turns of phrase are brilliant. Ever thought how you'd mix "touch pitch" and "defile" in the same sentence? There you go: superiority. Much misplaced ingenuity in finding forms of apology is shown by writers with Years ago, I fell in love with Fowler's righteous wrath, his irony, his impeccable use of Oxford comma. Much misplaced ingenuity in finding forms of apology is shown by writers with a sense of their own superiority who wish to safeguard their dignity and yet be Fowlers Dictionary of Modern English Usage, to combine comfort with elegance, to touch pitch and not be defiled. Among them are: To use an expressive colloquialism—in the vernacular phrase—if the word may be permitted—so Fowlers Dictionary of Modern English Usage speak—in homely phrase—not to put too fine a point upon it—if the word be not too vulgar—as they say—to call a spade a spade —not to mince matters—in the jargon of today— or the use of depreciatory inverted commas.