Points of View: Aspects of Present-day EnglishOxford University Press, 1992 - 150 pages This is a fascinating collection of essays and reflections on language by Robert Burchfield, a leading authority on English usage and etymology, and editor of the Supplement to the First Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. Points of View begins with two original and entertaining reflections, the first entitled "The Fowler Brothers and the Tradition of Usage Handbooks," the second "An Outline of Euphemisms in English." The selection of shorter pieces which follows--drawn from Burchfield's popular Sunday Times of London column, "Words and Meanings"--concerns the English language as it is used throughout the world. These cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the language of newspaper recruitment advertising and Valentine's Day messages to the modern use (and misuse) of apostrophes and hyphens. The book concludes with a series of engaging thoughts on individual words--often the most simple--about which there is continuing debate in modern English. Whether focusing on such contentious issues as "between you and me" versus "between you and I," or discussing the twenty-nine meanings of the verb "to want," Burchfield proves himself to be a particularly keen arbiter of English usage and a perceptive commentator on the state of our language today. |
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Page 10
... usage in overseas English - speaking countries , especially the United States . I have also tried to keep abreast of the immense amount of scholarly work on the language and on theoretical linguistics in the twentieth century . To ...
... usage in overseas English - speaking countries , especially the United States . I have also tried to keep abreast of the immense amount of scholarly work on the language and on theoretical linguistics in the twentieth century . To ...
Page 13
... usage guides It is impossible here to do much more than list some of the most important usage guides of the period since 1926. Perhaps the best known are as follows ( listed in chronological order ) : Eric Partridge , Usage and Abusage ...
... usage guides It is impossible here to do much more than list some of the most important usage guides of the period since 1926. Perhaps the best known are as follows ( listed in chronological order ) : Eric Partridge , Usage and Abusage ...
Page 15
... usage guides saw the merit of entries for such items ( acatalectic , ad captandum , alcaics , anacrusis , anastrophe , aposiopesis , etc. ) . TKE had many entries under idiosyncratic headwords : e.g. ANTICS ; BETWEEN TWO STOOLS ...
... usage guides saw the merit of entries for such items ( acatalectic , ad captandum , alcaics , anacrusis , anastrophe , aposiopesis , etc. ) . TKE had many entries under idiosyncratic headwords : e.g. ANTICS ; BETWEEN TWO STOOLS ...
Contents
The Fowler Brothers and the Tradition of Usage Handbooks I | 11 |
An Outline History of Euphemisms in English | 17 |
Topics | 35 |
Copyright | |
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A. N. Wilson abbreviations adjectives adverbs advertisements ain't American Anglo-Saxon Anita Brookner apostrophe baggage Bernice Rubens British C. K. Stead called Chicago clause conjunction consonant constructions contexts dare death designer Dictionary edition elements ellipsis English-speaking entries euphemism euphemistic expressed future tense garbage Garrison Keillor grammarians H. W. Fowler happened hyphen illustrative examples infinitive Iris Murdoch John kind Kingsley Amis Latin less letter lexicographers linguistic literary London luggage modal Modern English Usage names newspapers normally noun occur Oxford participle Partridge 1942 past tense Penelope Fitzgerald Penelope Lively perhaps person phrases plural prefix preposition present pronouns question recent recorded Review of Books seems sense sentence adverb Shakespeare's speakers speech spelling Spycatcher Standard English suffix Sunday syllable synonyms T. S. Eliot things Thomas Keneally usage guides verb vocabulary vowel whereabouts words and meanings writers Yorker young