Usage and abusage. A guide to good English

More about the book

Which is to be preferred - 'nom de plume', 'pseudonym', or 'pen-name'? What are neologisms, disguised conjunctions, and fused participles? How should one set about writing a précis? More generally, where does usage end and abusage begin? Language is everybody's business, and enters into almost every part of human life. Yet it is all too often misused: directness and clarity disappear in a whirl of clichés, euphemisms, and woolliness of expression. This book wittily attacks linguistic abusage of all kinds, and at the same time offers constructive advice on the proper use of English.