Rating: 
Summary: Excellent reference
Review: Words You Thought You Knew...1001 Commonly Misused and Misunderstood Words and Phrases by Jenna Glatzer is just that...words you 'thought' you knew. There are ones I've heard before like lie/lay, affect/effect, it's/its, and irrregardless. Then there are countless others I never knew until now like another THINK coming being the original use of the phrase instead of another THING coming, WHET your appetite instead of WET your appetite, SHOO-in instead of SHOE-in. I bought this book because I'm a writer who often submits work to a critical eye, and don't want to make a mistake and have an editor or contest judge think 'a good writer should know better' and have my chance at acceptance and recognition fail. I'm sure I'll continue to make some of the mistakes talked about in the book, but maybe now I'll make fewer. Words You Thought You Knew shouldn't be thought of as a dictionary since the two serve totally different purposes. Jenna's book tells how some words were originally intended to be used while the dictionary reports how words are used by our society now, even if today's definition differs from the originally intended use. It's up to you to decide how to use any given word, but Jenna's book may give a point of view you might not have known otherwise. If you're interested in learning more about the English language, how some words were meant to be used, like Jenna's style of writing, and her brand of humor, read the book. If not, don't. I enjoyed the book and found the information interesting, but that's just my opinion. If you're not familiar with Jenna's work, go to www.absolutewrite.com (her website) and look around.
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