Ben Yagoda
What do you get when you mix nine parts of speech, one great writer, and generous dashes of insight, humor, and irreverence? One phenomenally entertaining language book,.,In his waggish yet authoritative book, Ben Yagoda has managed to undo the dark work of legions of English teachers and libraries of dusty grammar texts. Not since ,School House Rock, have adjectives, adverbs, articles, conjunctions, interjections, nouns, prepositions, pronouns, and verbs been explored with such infectious exuberance. Read ,If You Catch an Adjective, Kill It ,and:,
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,Learn how to write better with classic advice from writers such as Mark Twain (â€œIf you catch an adjective, kill itâ€), Stephen King (â€œI believe the road to hell is paved with adverbsâ€), and Gertrude Stein (â€œNouns . . . are completely not interestingâ€). ,Marvel at how a single word can shift from adverb (â€œI did okayâ€), to adjective (â€œIt was an okay movieâ€), to interjection (â€œOkay!â€), to noun (â€œI gave my okayâ€), to verb (â€œWho okayed this?â€), depending on its use. ,Avoid the pretentious preposition ,at,, a favorite of real estate developers (e.g., â€œThe Shoppes at White Plainsâ€). ,Laugh when Yagoda says he â€œshall call anyone a dork to the end of his daysâ€ who insists on maintaining the distinction between ,shall, and ,will,. ,Read, and discover a book whose pop culture references, humorous asides, and bracing doses of discernment and common sense, ,convey Yagodaâ€™s unique sense of the â€œbeauty, the joy, the artistry, and the fun of language.â€
Nonfiction,Language,Writing,Humanities,Language,Humanities,Linguistics,Humor,Teaching,Language,Words,Reference
When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It: The Parts of Speech, for Better And/Or Worse