Your Own Words
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Overview
As the author of the Word Court columns that appear in The Atlantic Monthly and in newspapers nationwide, Barbara Wallraff is one of America's most widely read writers on language. She is beloved for her wit and renowned for the depth of her knowledge. Now, in Your Own Words, Wallraff answers common and uncommon questions about English-and simultaneously explains how she does it. She reveals how you, too, can be a language expert.On one level, Your Own Words is about dictionaries, stylebooks, usage manuals, visual dictionaries, thesauri, writing guides, and the Internet: the strengths and weaknesses of these and other language-reference sources, where the sources disagree, and the ways in which even educated people misunderstand them. On a deeper level, however, Your Own Words is about how to make good form your own. While it evaluates the often contradictory advice that reference sources give, it encourages you to reach your own conclusions and develop a style that expresses you at your best.
Illuminated throughout with anecdotes and selections from the Word Court columns, Your Own Words accomplishes what very few books on usage even attempt: it shows everyone with an interest in words-amateur, professional, student, or graduate--how to think about what goes into good style.
Synopsis
If you have a language question, where do you go for the answer? How do you keep proper syntax from sounding stiff, and, on the other hand, how do you keep conversational language from being embarrassingly incorrect? Barbara Wallraff, the author of The Atlantic Monthly's Word Court column, offers answers to these crucial questions. On one level, Your Own Words is a guide to using and understanding language references-dictionaries, thesauruses, stylebooks, usage guides, grammars, writing guides, and the Internet-with emphasis on how the different kinds of resources can help you answer different kinds of questions. On a deeper level, however, Your Own Words is about how to make good form your own. It helps you turn these various, often contradictory references into the tools that every experienced and confident user of language needs.In the world of language commentary, Barbara Wallraff offers an unequaled combination of authority, accessibility, and popularity. Her book shows you how to develop a genuine style that's both correct and personal-a style that expresses you at your best. Illuminated throughout with anecdotes and selections from the Word Court columns, Your Own Words does what very few books on usage even attempt: It shows every reader-amateur, professional, student, or graduate -how to think about what goes into good style.I think her judgment is flawless. I never disagree with her. -Jack Miles, author of God: A Biography