A word or two before you go .

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The title of this collection of short essays on language and correct usage by one of America's eminent scholars is from Othello's last soliloquy. Most of these pieces appeared previously, primarily in American Scholar, The Atlantic and Columbia magazines, which Barzun has revised for consistency and timeliness and added material to balance the book. Among his themes are vigilance against corruption of English by technocrats, and "media hacks", the importance of precise expression; and appreciat…

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Title Statements

Full title :A word or two before you go ... / Jacques Barzun.

Summary

Edition Statements

Publication Date:1986.
Edition:First edition

Publication Statements

Publisher(s):Distributed by Harper & Row Publishers, Wesleyan University Press
Place of Publication:Middletown, Connecticut
Language:eng
Publication Date:1986.

The Physical Object

Description:xi, 190 pages ; : 23 cm

Edition Identifiers

ISBN:0819551740, 9780819551740, 0819562068, 9780819562067
oclc:ocm14187419
LC Classification:PE 1460
Dewey Decimal:428

Introductory: What are mistakes and why -- Part I: Guidelines -- The positive side of negatives -- "It makes no sense" -- English as she's not taught -- Enigma variations -- Le faux chic -- What makes writing right? -- Part II: Pitfalls -- Look for trouble ahead -- Promiscuous pairs -- Tonier than thou -- Page Mrs. Malaprop -- Vulgar, vulgarity, vulgarisms -- Points of passing -- Exercise in discretion -- Part III: False friends -- A copy editor's anthology -- The Naïveté of spelling reform -- Basic English: Whose pidgin is it? -- After Fowler's generation -- Dialogue in c-sharp -- "The rain in Spain," etcetera -- Part IV: "Words apt and gracious" -- What if-? English versus German and French -- A search for roots -- A real personal person -- For us readers' sake -- Mencken's America speaking -- On the necessity of common tongue.