Words You Thought You Knew . . .: 1001 Commonly Misused and Misunderstood Words and Phrases

by Jenna Glatzer

Book Overview

Nothing makes a person appear more ridiculous than incorrectly using a word in conversation or writing—and having the listener or reader pick up on it. Words You Thought You Knew . . . features words... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1580629415
• ISBN13: 9781580629416
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Adams Media Corporation
• Length: 310 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.4" x 6.2"

Customer Reviews

Absolute Necessity!

This little book is truly an absolute Must Have. After getting one for myself, I have been giving them away to anyone who "abuses", albeit ignorantly, the English language. One of my beefs lately is with my Mom and Brother - both mistakenly use "anxious" for "eager" among so many others. It's cheap to own, and makes a really great EDUCATIONAL gift to give away to anyone and everyone on any holiday, birthday, or just a learning tip kind of day, etc. I very highly recommend this little but oh so important book to everyone wanting to clean up their English language to save yourself and others from blatant ignorance when speaking or writing. Have a really great educational journey!

Fun to Read & Chock-full of Interesting Stuff

Jenna Glatzer's new title is one of those reference books that you never realized how much you needed until you start reading it. It's chock-full of fascinating words and information, much of which is spiced up by Glatzer's tongue-in-cheek sense of humor. After pithy but easy-to-comprehend descriptions of words and phrases, she includes information about usage and spelling, along with a brief example sentence. The book is an invaluable addition to any person's library and is especially useful for writers and those who love words. For all those who `pour' over documents, fall `prostrate' in the face of a threat, insist that Tom Dooley was `hung,' or can't decide if you `empathize' or `sympathize,' this book is for you! ~Lori L. Lake, author of Stepping Out, Different Dress, Gun Shy, Under The Gun, and Ricochet In Time, and reviewer for Midwest Book Review, The Independent Gay Writer, The Gay Read, and Just About Write.

An ESSENTIAL Part of Every Writer's Library!

At last! I will no longer confuse the fiendish "farther" and "further" in my writing. Never again will the twins, "sit" and "set" torment me, signaling my demise. My rescuer is Jenna Glatzer's latest book, WORDS YOU THOUGHT YOU KNEW... This book is so comprehensive & writer-friendly that I've been using it constantly since I cracked the cover. My copy is already dog-eared & permanently swaybacked from being held open and wedged under my keyboard. In fact, I planned to write this review a couple of weeks ago, but {how embarrassing} I was too busy USING the book to write about it! True - given enough time, we could all eventually look up the answers to these puzzles ourselves. But when was the last time you had a deadline of "eventually?" What writer wouldn't love having this book handy to clearly grasp the difference between "infer" and "imply" at 3:15 a.m., when he/she is working alone against a 7:00 a.m. deadline? I have personally blessed this author repeatedly while frantically flipping through the pages to find the answers I need. Glatzer has neatly gathered her long hours of research into this tidy book, & organized everything into an intuitive, easy-to-use format. The result is an efficient reference guide that quickly delivers up the desired information. With each new book, Gratzer has proven herself a champion to writers, ready to help us appear even more witty & organized than we really are. Using humor & an easy, conversational style, she once again offers entertainment with information, making this book an essential part of every writer's library. Do yourself a favor & pick up a copy. I guarantee that, on those "brain cloud" days when you can't think of the correct word, you'll be thankful to have this book on hand.

Excellent reference

As an entrepreneur and business executive I am called upon to give speaches before hundreds of well educated people. Although most of my graduate and post-graduate education was in the sciences, I have always considered the proper use of the English language to be essential in all forms of communication. I cringe when listening to radio announcers, or television news reporters or politicians who commonly and repeatedly maul the English language. As in any craft, be it carpenter, plumber, electrician, physician, or writer, having the best tools that money can buy is not a luxury, as they are a critical to long term success. Ms. Glatzer has created an easy to understand collection of commonly misused and misunderstood words. Her examples of proper word usage are often humorous, which I find to be an added bonus to an excellent English lesson. While I don't see among her credits that she is a teacher, I feel as though she would make an superb educator. I will certainly keep this book next to my dictionary and thesaurus.In her introduction, she states that the English language is ever evolving and therefore what was "proper" a hundred or even fifty years ago may not be "proper" today, and what is "proper" today may not be "proper" a hundred years from now. Ms. Glatzer's book is an excellent reference to keep you from making the mistakes of the past. I would like to see even more words added to her list and perhaps some used and misused colloguialisms but this is not a criticism, merely a wish. I am confident this book will make me a better public speaker and writer.

A little gem!

I've been a high school english teacher for 15 years, and have always considered it important that I use my language well. I bought this book expecting to use it as an occasional reference book, but to my own surprise, I'm reading it cover to cover! Thanks to the author's interesting, oftentimes humorous, treatment of what could have been a dry, didactic subject, I find myself actually enjoying the reading. And I've found many surprises throughout these pages - "words I thought I knew" but actually had been misusing, as well as many new or previously unused words which I will now "own."I highly recommend this book to anyone who prides him/herself on using the english language with variety and accuracy.