Search results for ""Author Lane Greene""

Language is a wild animal: rough, ambiguous, inconsistent in countless ways. But that just makes it all the more tempting to tame it. Many have tried, from sticklers for supposedly correct grammar to inventors of supposedly perfect languages; from software engineers working on machine translation to governments that see language management as politics by another means. But when you enter the lair of a wild beast, you can be lucky to escape with your wits. Join Lane Greene on a journey of discovery into the deep strangeness of language. Learn why grammar rules can never capture the extraordinary variety of ordinary usage. See what happens when you try to design a language that really makes sense. Find out why, for all the talk of decline in English, no language in recorded history has ever gone to the dogs, or ever could. And learn the fate of those bold individuals who, through heroism or ignorance, ventured to teach their tongue some new tricks.

Read more less

OVER A MILLION COPIES SOLD Why are the best words short and old? Why are full stops a writer's best friend? How can we simplify, then exaggerate? And what exactly are dangling modifiers? We'd all like to write with style. But what does that mean, and what can we learn from The Economist, a publication well known for its clarity and flair? Welcome to Writing with Style, an elegant survey of the principles available for writing better prose. By adopting some tried and tested tools and techniques, you too can learn how to inform, persuade and entertain when you write. Whether you want to know your singulars from your subjunctives, how colons add drama or why the word "comprise" is contaminated, this is the style guide for you.

Read more less