The Penguin Dictionary of American English Usage and Style : A ...

introduction
ix
children and make them far more better
. . . students.” Delete “more.”
“Women have smaller brains then
men.” Than.
“The . . . campaign has got to break
into the double digits to be respectful.”
Respectable.
(Headline:) “Be Happy She Prys.”
Pries.
Additional slip-ups, by people in other
fields, include these:
(Advertising:) “I always wanted to
loose weight.” Lose.
(Book publishing:) “Allow someone
else to proofread [edit?] it . . . who will
not be affraid to be biased in their opinion.”
Afraid to be unbiased in his opinion.
(Diplomacy:) “It is quite clear that the
crisis has reached a critical point.”
Better: the dispute or the situation.
(Education:) “Me and my kids live in
a dormitory.” I and.
(Law:) “No one is free to flaunt the
tax laws.” Flout.
(Medicine:) “We’re obligated to do
that biopsy irregardless of the physical
findings.” Regardless.
(Psychology:) “Their child don’t look
so good.” Doesn’t look.
The book debunks some widespread
misbeliefs. If we do not fully understand
the meanings of certain words or if we
accept some clichés on their faces, we
may believe that fury rages in the “eye”
of a storm; a “fraction” is a small part;
the character “Frankenstein” was a
monster; to “impeach” an official is to
oust him from office; a jury can find a
defendant “innocent”; pencils contain
the metal “lead”; a “misdemeanor” is
not a crime; prostitution is the “oldest
profession”; an exception “proves” a
rule; the Constitution guarantees “the
pursuit of happiness”; and so on.
The criticism of any extract does not
negate the overall merit of the work that
is quoted.*
Clarity
Clarity is a leading theme of this
book. More than 100 entries deal with
the problem of ambiguity (noun): the
state of being ambiguous (adjective),
able to be interpreted in two or more different
ways. Consider this sentence:
“When P—— was hired by H——, he
had a criminal record.” Which one is
“he”? (That example is from Pronouns,
1. Consult also the cross-reference
Ambiguity and the next section of this
introduction, Wounded Words. General
examples of fuzzy prose appear in
Verbosity and other entries.)
Clear expression requires clear think-
*Of 2,000-odd examples of misusage or questionable usage, almost half originated with
newspapers, news agencies, or magazines; about a fifth each with broadcasters and books;
and a tenth with people in many other fields or miscellaneous sources, described in the text.
A few appeared in other reference works.
The single most frequent source of examples was The New York Times (usually the
national edition), which occasionally is quoted here approvingly too. Newspapers distributed
in the San Francisco Bay area and TV and radio broadcasts heard there were significant
sources. Dozens of other newspapers, from most regions of the country, yielded examples too.
So did 120 books, mostly nonfiction. Some correct or incorrect examples, not counted above,
were composed where fitting.
The sources of the quotations are not usually identified by name. Space did not permit the
publication of a list of such sources (although it had been contemplated). But a variety of reference
works consulted as sources of information are listed in the back of the book.