Before he became famous
as a travel writer, Bill Bryson worked as a reporter and editor for a number
of British newspapers. His experience as an editor made him realise that,
while asking colleagues for advice on points of language is all very well, you’re
as likely to end up with two extremely interesting but entirely contradictory
answers, as with anything useful. Traditional reference works aren’t always
much better.
If the jargon doesn’t trip you up, then a whole new flock of
contradictions lurk in the margins, waiting to ensnare you. While much of what
passes for good usage is little more than pedantry and resistance to change, I
agree with Bryson that we need some conventions to stick to, otherwise the
written language would be in the kind of chaos that would leave even
Shakespeare (the man who wasn’t quite sure how to spell his own name)
clutching his head in despair. Bill Bryson notes, not unreasonably, that he
doesn’t actually have the right to tell you or me how we should use the
language, but that we may find this simple guide helpful when it comes to
dealing with the many problems thrown up by standard written English. I can
only agree.
Originally entitled ‘The
Penguin Dictionary of Troublesome Words,’ the book is, not surprisingly,
arranged alphabetically, but I have read it straight through, from cover to
cover. I found it stood up
surprisingly well to such treatment, although from now on I’ll be most
likely to use it as a dictionary, or something to dip into when I need a
little light entertainment. Given that this is written by Bill Bryson, you
didn’t really expect it to be entirely serious, did you? Nevertheless, it is
also an incredibly helpful book. It’s the book I wish I’d had when I was
trying to explain to someone why Dr doesn’t need a full point after it, and
the book I want to give to every broadcaster who says that someone is being
pressurised into doing something.
Some entries provide a brief historical
summary on how a word has been used, ‘hopefully’ being one, while others
discuss the intricacies of several current variations, such as ‘different
from/than/to’. Some show Bryson at his waspish best, castigating the very
people who’ve presumed to tell us what to do, and showing that the
authorities also have their lapses – and believe me, some of their lapses
are very ugly indeed.
All in all, while this is
a slim volume, it’s a very valuable one too. Bill Bryson will get you out of
trouble without being judgmental about it, and he’s certainly earned his
place on my reference shelf.
