Word Court: Wherein Verbal Virtue Is Rewarded, Crimes Against the Language Are Punished, and Poetic Justice Is Done

by Barbara Wallraff

Overview

By the author of the Atlantic Monthly's highly popular column "Word Court," the most engaging grammar guide of our time, with all the authority of Strunk and White and all the fun of Woe Is I.

The "Judge Judy of Grammar" was born when the Atlantic Monthly's Barbara Wallraff began answering grammar questions on America Online. This vibrant exchange became the magazine's bimonthly "Word Court," and eventually the bestselling hardcover book, Word Court.

In Word Court, Wallraff moves beyond her column to tackle common and uncommon items, establishing rules for such issues as turns of phrase, slang, name usage, punctuation, and newly coined vocabulary. With true wit, she deliberates and decides on the right path for lovers of language, ranging from classic questions-Is "a historical" or "an historical" correct?-to awkward issues-How long does someone have to be dead before we should all stop calling her "the late"? Should you use "like" or "as"-and when?

The result is a warmly humorous, reassuring, and brilliantly perceptive tour of how and why we speak the way we do.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780156011181
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	08/07/2001
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Barbara Wallraff (right) is a senior editor at the Atlantic Monthly, where she has worked since 1983. She lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction, by Francine Prose

Chapter One: Who Cares
Who does care about grammar and usage questions, how much these people care, and why they are right to/

An Aside: Warning

Chapter Two: The Elements of Fashion
Our language is a work in progress, and so we must mistrust the advice of long-established usage guides, alas. Neologisms from birthing to funeralized. What increasing sexual equality and tolerance of a range of differences have meant to English, and a plea for still broader tolerance. How social trends toward informality and specialization impact (ouch!) our language.

An Aside: House Style

Chapter Three: A Grammarian's Dozen
Why you probably know more grammar than you think you do, and why this should please you. A countdown of thirteen common, often misunderstood grammar-related issues, including split infinitives, why I feel well is good grammar and I feel badly is not, ending clauses with prepositions, that versus which, what it is about hopefully, whether Magic are plural in Orlando and Jazz in Utah, what it is about unique, let's keep it between you and me, please and possessive puzzlements of all sorts.

An Aside: Diagramming Sentences

Chapter Four: Say No More
An alphabetical usage guide to often abused, confused, and traduced words, from A vs. An to Zeds and Zeros.

An Aside: Shelf Life (Useful Reference Books)

Chapter Five: Immaterial Questions
Curiosities whose corporeal existence is one way or another in doubt: Questions about words and punctuation which no one has asked. Words that don't exist. Pronunciation issues, invisible on the page. And the mystery of how one expression can manage to say the same thing twice, and whether that's bad or good.

Chapter Six: Wise to the Words
There is, of course, a wily old elephant in whose eye all of the foregoing is but a mote.

Index

What People are Saying About This

Ian Frazier

Barbara Wallraff's wit, clarity, and cheerful good sense make her disquisitions on English grammar a delight to read. The language is lucky to have her, and so are we.

Tracy Kidder

This is a charming and sensible book about langauge, by a person who clearly loves language. It ought to be required reading in every American classroom.

Steven Pinker

Word Court passes my test for a great book on style and usage: one can read it for pleasure as well as for advice. Ms. Grammar is unfailingly warm, witty, and wise, and her book reminds us of the precision and grace that our language is capable of.

Editorial Reviews

This is a charming and sensible book about language, by a person who clearly loves language. It ought to be required reading in every American newsroom."-Tracy Kidder

“Word Court passes my test for a great book on style and usage: one can read it for pleasure as well as for advice. Ms. Grammar is unfailingly warm, witty, and wise."-Steven Pinker, MIT professor and author of The Language Instinct and Words and Rules

“Short of having [Barbara Wallraff] perch on your desk, available to give snappy answers to grammar stumpers, the next-best solution is to keep a copy of Word Court handy."-James Fallows, author of Breaking the News

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From the Publisher

So here's a rare bird, indeed, a knowledgeable grammarian who can deliver solid language advice with a wink and a smile.

San Francisco Chronicle

Wallraff picks her way through language thickets with a sure step and a generous attitude.

Boston Globe

Her approach to language is a beguiling mix of charm and research.

USA Today

...a warmly humorous, reassuring, and brilliantly perceptive tour of how and why we speak the way we do.

Of Ages Past

...a discursive romp amid grammatical pitfalls and semantic minefields. The subject matter is as wide-ranging and unpredictable as the column itself.

Atlantic Monthly

If I had to pick a favorite book of word lore for the season, it would be Barbara Walraff's Word Court. Walraff is our Miss Manners of Language. Long may she reign.
— San Diego Union Tribune

Charles Harrington Elster