Richard Lederer
Paperback | Pages: 192 pages Rating: 4.1 | 1735 Users | 142 Reviews
Be Specific About Books To Anguished English: An Anthology of Accidental Assaults Upon Our Language
| ISBN: | 044020352X (ISBN13: 9780440203520) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Commentary As Books Anguished English: An Anthology of Accidental Assaults Upon Our Language
I have learned so much from this book. Most importantly, I've learned that what I thought was a regional dialect of Northeastern Pennsylvania called Heynabonics is actually a nation-wide sub-language called "Slurvian."I think this means that I'm bi-lingual now.
This was a cute, though disturbing, read. I laughed until I cried in the beginning section, reading through students' essays and seeing their mutilation of facts, but towards the middle of the book, it just kind of lost me. Yes, there were subject/verb disagreements, unintentional paraprosdokians, misplaced modifiers, and dangling participles but often I just didn't find the examples all that funny. And some of them, despite all disclaimers to the contrary, seemed faked. Or slightly modified to increase the irony and make them funnier, at the very least.
After about the 1/3 mark, I think I smiled and maybe chuckled a few times, but the uncontrollable laughter that I was promised, and which I experienced in the beginning, just didn't carry through.
Still, this was a quick read, and most of it was amusing even if I didn't spend the entire book in tears of laughter, so it wasn't a complete waste of time.
Describe About Books Anguished English: An Anthology of Accidental Assaults Upon Our Language
| Title | : | Anguished English: An Anthology of Accidental Assaults Upon Our Language |
| Author | : | Richard Lederer |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 192 pages |
| Published | : | August 5th 1989 by Dell (first published 1987) |
| Categories | : | Humor. Nonfiction. Humanities. Language. Writing. Reference |
Rating About Books Anguished English: An Anthology of Accidental Assaults Upon Our Language
Ratings: 4.1 From 1735 Users | 142 ReviewsCritique About Books Anguished English: An Anthology of Accidental Assaults Upon Our Language
Hilarious, and what's more, consistently hilarious. My high school English teacher and I bonded over this book.An easy read and a humorous way to pass the time! If you have ever been a teacher, a writer or one of those people who hates words such as "ain't", you will love this book. I myself since having a brain injury have found myself a member of the non-sequitur club! Yogi Berra has always been one of my favorite comedians (without his meaning to). One of my favoritequotes by him is in this book.When Mickey Mantle asked him "What time is it?" Berra replied: "you mean right now?" How much more zen like
I laugh just thinking about this book. The chapter on history of the world according to student bloopers alone is worth the price of the book.
Basically a long list of funny things that students, newspapers, signs said. Some had me laugh out loud but I had to take it in small doses like someone who tells continuous jokes or puns. Examples: headline: CHILD'S STOOL GREAT FOR USE IN GARDEN. misspellings: "Full Coarse Meals" or student papers: "Sir Francis Drake circumcised the world with a 100ft clipper." You get the idea. I found the book and spent the right amount of money on it.
You can't go home again :(I read this when it was first released, in 19mumblemumble, and laughed until I cried. Now I find Lederer condescending and annoying. I hate the sections with grammatical errors from "citizens applying for payments from a state welfare agency" and "actual [school] excuse notes". Listen to Lederer snicker because "an astonishing number of grownups blithely go about murdering the King's English without any inkling they are committing a serious crime."Did not like.
This was amusing, and several times I really did LOL. The muddled history chapter of 'The World According to Student Bloopers' made this little ABCDière find worthwhile. The majority of the book included variations on sexual innuendo, which I suppose is to be expected from a high school writing, anyway. Whoops, your Freudian slip is showing.(3 days later) I'm willing to give a couple of extra stars for the joy of hearing my daughter read 'Anguished English.' Her laughter was contagious =0)
An okay depiction of various language mistakes. Perfect for people who like to post a lot of status updates. It made me laugh a couple of times, so it gets a pass. It didn't leave me 'roaring with laughter' the way it promised though.I can't put my finger on it, but I didn't like the tone of the book if that makes any sense. I didn't see this as a benign humorous mocking. Occasionally it was a bit condescending. Still, some of the mistakes are hilarious. Others were trying too hard.An advice:
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