<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: a consequential collection for the careful speaker
Review: Admit it: from time to time, we all like to use a ten dollar word to demonstrate our mastery of the English language. As President W. Bush can attest, however, nothing's more embarrassing at such moments than discovering you've just mispronounced the word.To our rescue comes Charles Harrington Elster, an expert in the ways of saying words correctly. In "The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations," he provides not only an almost exhaustive list of frequently mispronounced words, but clear and entertaining explanations and arguments of why his pronunciation is correct. Elster has carefully researched each word, providing evidence from dictionaries, usage in broadcast media, and historical linguistics to explain why a word ought to be said in a certain way. Elster is someone who cares about the English language. The role of language is to communicate, and communication is impossible if we cannot understand one another. Thus, common pronunciation of words is significant. On the whole, Elster prefers pronunciations that have history and permanence. Many arguments for words I thought I'd been saying all along were clearly presented with his preferred pronunciation in my dictionary. He does concede in some cases that a common mispronunciation of a word has become correct, by sheer weight of usage. He also is careful to note pronunciations that differ between British and American English. He also provides the correct pronunciation of some names and places. As someone who shares Elster's love of the language, I recommend this book highly. It's one of my most-used reference books, and not just because it's stored in the guest bathroom.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely useful
Review: Anyone who gives this book a poor review has a chip on his shoulder about Americans and American English. I have used the original edition of this book for 10 years now and still find it informative and entertaining. The author provides evidence as to why words are pronounced the way they are in the U.S. and does not imply that American pronunciation is superior.
Rating:
Summary: Passionate and Wonderful!
Review: Elster could be a blow-hard. He could be a nauseating pedant. Instead, he's the charmingly gnomish author of this magnificently entertaining book. Like many of us, he had a mother who would pin his ears to the wall if he dared confuse who with whom. And this guy's mom knew that "flaccid" is pronounced "Flak-sid", did you? Or how's this: try ordering a "daiquiri" (Dy-kuh-ree). Good luck; but of course you'll be correct. This very BIG book of "beastly" mispronunciations is gleefully entertaining. You won't just get the correct pronunciations, but concise reasoning on why a word crept into the language, why it should be tossed out, who corrupted it, and why we tend to garble nuclear (N(Y)oo-kle-ur), while clinging to the "psuedo-French"- ified envelope (AHN-vul-lohp). This could be nothing more than a pesky book, but Elster is so passionate about the Language, and so wildly fun that it's just great reading-- if not terminally humbling. Three distinct groups deserve this gift: Post-modernists who will turn away in horror (then read it on the sly), people who speak English, and those who find in words the delicate beauty of a very good opera-- when sung correctly.
Rating: 
Summary: NewfoundLAND-Understand
Review: Ha! I was coming here to praise this book with the exception of the pronunciation given for "Newfoundland"; it appears that others have commented on this topic ... consider the sentiment seconded. Disagreements here and there are going to arise, but disregarding the way in which the inhabitants of a place pronounce its name makes me call into question Elster's other research and entries.
Rating:
Summary: Fun fun fun!
Review: If you have ever gone into convulsions upon hearing the word "government" pronounced "GUV-uh-mint," then this book is for you. A delight for logophiles everywhere who are concerned with stamping out the terror of badly rendered pronunciations .
Rating: 
Summary: Big and beastly
Review: Ill-informed snobs like Elster give prescriptivism a bad name. One can legitimately adopt a prescriptive (= this is proper, thus correct) rather than a descriptive (= this is popular, thus correct, or at least not incorrect) position. I tend to do so myself, despite the propaganda from my linguistic background that foolishly denies the existence of "good" and "bad" usage. The prescriptivist, however, must defend his position if he expects to be taken seriously. Elster shirks this responsibility. Most of his entries simply present his own favourite pronunciations and label others "beastly" without offering any defence beyond his bald assertions and occasionally a citation of one or another dictionary--whichever dictionary happens to support his preference. Our self-styled orthoëpist doesn't wave the banner of tradition, etymology, modernity, simplicity, logic, consistency, æsthetics, convenience, or any other criterion by which one might evaluate a pronunciation; we're left to wonder how he arrived at his conclusions about what is and is not "beastly", and why we should accept his judgement. Orthoëpy is not based on dogmatic assertions and selective references to old dictionaries. Any reader who values careful, correct, intelligent use of the language will deem the author of this book a laughing-stock.
Rating:
Summary: A cornupcopia of unintended humor!
Review: Read in the proper spirit, this is an absolutely hysterical book (in whatever sense of "hysterical" one choses). Elster's methodology is simple enough: for any given word he defers to dictionaries and pronunciation guides from the first half of the 20th century. Works from the 19th century are cited if they support his conclusion and ignored if they do not. Works from the second half of the 20th century are cited, either to support his conclusion or to decry the corruption of the language. So far this is fairly uninteresting. The reader could simply buy an old dictionary from a used book store and get the same information. The humor comes from the justifications Elster presents. Is his favored pronunciation used by most educated people? That proves his point! Is it used by virtually no one? That proves the need for this book! If he favors an anglicized pronunciation of a borrowed word, well, we are speaking English and the foreign pronunciation is pretentious. If he favors the foreign pronunciation then only ignorant buffoons anglicize it! If a word is used in print more than in speech, and many readers phonetically (mis)pronounce it, he will chastise them for not checking in a dictionary. This is often followed by the information that the unapproved pronunciation in fact occurs in modern dictionaries. Apparently we are being chastised for not checking an *old* dictionary. Best of all are those instances where it is his ox being gored. These are rare. Ordinarily his devotion to authority is slavish. But the few occasions are worth the search. He will go on for pages explaining how on this occasion the authorities are wrong and that in this rare case the pronunciation used by everyone (read: Elster himself) is correct. Check out his discussion of "modem" for a good example. If you want a guide for pronunciation, buy a good dictionary. If you want a treasure trove of humorous bathroom reading, this is for you!
Rating:
Summary: Great fun, but there's one glaring error
Review: The book is quite enjoyable, but ought not to be taken too seriously. There is one major error, though. His suggested pronunciations for the word "Newfoundland" are simply wrong. I should know. I'm a Newfoundlander. No-one in Newfoundland would use either pronunciation given in the book. His suggestion 'N(Y)OO-fun(d)-lund' marks anyone who uses it as American. We tend to regard it with polite exasperation. We are not a part of the United States and don't really expect Americans to be able to pronounce it properly. The other suggestion: n(y)oo-FOUND-lund is even worse. It marks you as Canadian and is likely to produce hoots of derision if you use it in earshot of a Newfoundlander. What is the proper pronunciation? It rhymes with "understand." nyoo-fund-LAND. Sometimes there is slight secondary stress on the first syllable. When referring to the dog, the main stress is on the word DOG, with approximately equal secondary stresses on the first and third syllables of Newfoundland. Never, ever is it pronounced Nyoo-FOUND-lund!
Rating:
Summary: Incredible!
Review: The name of this book is what caught my eye, but, as soon as I opened it, I realized how great it is. I learned of quite a few mistakes I make, and often WHY. The author's somewhat ranting tone makes an otherwise dense and boring subject a bit more approachable. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: -1star (reference value) + 2 stars (entertainment value)
Review: [...]. the author's rules are, indeed, entirely arbitrary.
simply performing a mental utterance of many of his "proper" pronunciations affected me as strongly as a fingernail on a blackboard.
i take particular exception to his endorsement of the mutilation of the many japanese words that have found their way into our vocabulary.
for the most part, our alphabet is capable of approximating japanese words. as in spanish borrowed words, where one shouldn't be expected to trill the "r", (i loved the reference to the saturday night live sketch with jimmy smits!) the pronunciation can be anglicized, but i don't understand his endorsement -- and sometimes origination -- of whimsically swapping out entire syllables.
i can guess what he considers to be the correct pronunciations of "tokyo" and "kyoto". but i assure you, each of these words have TWO syllables -- not THREE, not FIVE.
additionally, (and i may be in a minority here) i'm bothered by his overweening love of the schwa, with which he replaces almost every instance of a short vowel in an unstressed syllable, thus endorsing an inarticulate mush-mouthed uh-mur-uh-cun-uh-zay-shun of the language and his erratic syllable division greatly reduces the already shrinking list of words which have etymologically sound pronunciations.
<< 1 >>
| 
