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The King's English: A Guide to Modern Usage
Posthumously published, the great man's trenchant, provocative and authoritative guide to the use and abuse of the English language. Sir Kingsley Amis, who died in 1995, occupied a unique position in the world of English elder statesman, former angry young man, latter-day curmudgeon and, above all, comic novelist of genius. In all his work, and throughout his life, the use and abuse of the English language was one of his principal concerns. The King's English pungently, entertainingly and concisely conveys his love and knowledge of the subject to new generations of readers and writers. Here can be found all those linguistic pitfalls ('crescendo', 'disinterested', 'enormity') which lie in wait for the ignorant or the careless. And if you've ever wondered whether it's acceptable to start a sentence with 'and', or what you risk revealing about yourself by your pronunciation of 'liqueur', or whether or not to cross your 7s in the French style, Amis has the answer. By turns reflective, acerbic, combative and controversial, The King's English will find a place on the shelves of anyone who values the English language and cares about the way in which it is used.
270 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
73 people are currently reading
874 people want to read
About the author
Kingsley Amis
210 books553 followersBest known novels of British writer Sir Kingsley William Amis include
Lucky Jim
(1954) and
The Old Devils
(1986).
This English poet, critic, and teacher composed more than twenty-three collections, short stories, radio and television scripts, and books of social and literary criticism. He fathered Martin Amis.
William Robert Amis, a clerk of a mustard manufacturer, fathered him. He began his education at the city of London school, and went up to college of Saint John, Oxford, in April 1941 to read English; he met Philip Larkin and formed the most important friendship of his life. After only a year, the Army called him for service in July 1942. After serving as a lieutenant in the royal corps of signals in the Second World War, Amis returned to Oxford in October 1945 to complete his degree. He worked hard and got a first in English in 1947, and then decided to devote much of his time.
Pen names: [authorRobert Markham|553548] and William Bill Tanner
This English poet, critic, and teacher composed more than twenty-three collections, short stories, radio and television scripts, and books of social and literary criticism. He fathered Martin Amis.
William Robert Amis, a clerk of a mustard manufacturer, fathered him. He began his education at the city of London school, and went up to college of Saint John, Oxford, in April 1941 to read English; he met Philip Larkin and formed the most important friendship of his life. After only a year, the Army called him for service in July 1942. After serving as a lieutenant in the royal corps of signals in the Second World War, Amis returned to Oxford in October 1945 to complete his degree. He worked hard and got a first in English in 1947, and then decided to devote much of his time.
Pen names: [authorRobert Markham|553548] and William Bill Tanner
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
October 5, 2022
BOOK EXCERPT: "Feminism in language: This is so notorious already, and such a joke, that I will offer only one comment. A sane feminist, and there must surely be such a creature, would presumably look forward to a perhaps far-off day when the feminist revolution is a fact like the Russian one, when women are so fully the equals of men that feminist propaganda and other pressures have ceased to be needed. Until that day comes, of course, propaganda etc. will continue as usual, if not more so. I confess that I, no doubt among others, have already begun to yield. Unable or unwilling to face the chore of perpetually remembering to write 'he or she' in appropriate contexts, I fall back on plural or passive constructions. If after a quick search these seem not to be available I recast the sentence. Why? Because I would rather be safe than sorry, and to find myself the occasion of some feminist outburst about unconscious (or conscious) chauvinism would make me very sorry indeed. Has that ever happened to me? Not yet, but we know well enough by now that all men are cowards, do we not?"
What an asshole. And I hate the cover photo's perspective, shot from below as if the viewer is kneeling before this dumb man.
May 1, 2007
If you liked Lynn Truss then mature into this. Basically useful and hilarious, although smacks a little as a literary Mitsford in places. Outrageously funny e.g. his classification of anyone who pronounces words of French origin in a French accent (e.g. restaurant) officially a "wanker".
March 12, 2012
I purchased the eBook version of this and now wish that I had bought an actual book.
At times polemical and curmudgeonly, at others showing a practical, common-sense approach to the English language this is always an entertainingly waspish, witty commentary on grammar, syntax, spelling and phraseology.
It can be read in one go quite comfortably. I had not realised before doing so, however, that it is structured under numerous sub-headings which make it quite appropriate to also be used as a reference book - hence my slight regret over buying the format that I did.
At times polemical and curmudgeonly, at others showing a practical, common-sense approach to the English language this is always an entertainingly waspish, witty commentary on grammar, syntax, spelling and phraseology.
It can be read in one go quite comfortably. I had not realised before doing so, however, that it is structured under numerous sub-headings which make it quite appropriate to also be used as a reference book - hence my slight regret over buying the format that I did.
April 28, 2022
This is an A-Z of Do’s and Don’ts in formal written English. Kingsley Amis builds from Fowler’s earlier works, though he does push back on a few points. Many of his insights are indispensable, but not all of them.
Some of his suggestions are out of date. For example, nobody today worries about the proper usage (or pronunciation) of words like “Pall Mall.” Unless you are a 90 year old man wanting some cigarettes, you have probably never said this word.
Nonetheless, there are valuable rules and suggestions to which you should adhere:
alternate/alternative: alternate suggests “first one, then another.” Alternative suggests another possibility.1
And: it does more than link sentences together. Contrary to old wives’ tales, one may certainly start a sentence with “and.” And if one does start a sentence like so, it can have a stylistic impact.2
As to: don’t ever use it.
Because: Do not start a sentence with “The reason….and then insert because.” Even worse, never say, “Just because.” Rather, “Practice saying ‘He smashed the car because….”3
Convince: You are “convinced of” something, not “convinced to.”4
Gerunds: use the possessive case before a gerund.
Having said that: do not say that. Use “even so” or “nevertheless.”5
Hopefully: When someone says or writes, ‘Hopefully, the plan will be in operation….,” we know immediately that we are dealing with a dimwit at best.”6
However: use at the beginning of a sentence. It is not wrong to use it elsewhere, but the word always throws an emphasis on the preceding word.7
Medieval: “To pronounce in three syllables as ‘medd-eval’ or ‘mee-deeval’ in an infallible sign of fundamental illiteracy.”8
Prepositions: you can use them at the end of a sentence. As Amis notes, “The power of saying…People worth talking to instead of People with whom it is worth while to talk is not one to be lightly surrendered.”9
Shall/Will: Shall denotes futurity; will denotes intention.10
-t: Do not pronounce the “t” in words like “often” and “postpone.” As Amis notes, “But some good people, afraid they may be suspected of not knowing how to spell, say the ‘t.”11
Humor:
“In his heart, and however he may vote, no Englishman readily allows linguistic equality to an American.”12
“Thus Wordsworth, in the Immortality Ode at least, was some kind of deist; the Archbishop of Canterbury is presumably a theist, or is paid to be.”13
Conclusion
I do have one minor criticism. Amis occasionally critiques a certain usage without telling the reader what the correct usage is, often when it is not self-evident.
Endnotes
1. Amis, 7.
2. Ibid, 14.
3. Ibid, 22.
4. Ibid, 36.
5. Ibid, 95.
6. Ibid, 158.
7. Ibid, 98.
8. Ibid, 132.
9. Ibid, 166.
10. Ibid, 204.
11. Ibid, 172.
12. Ibid, 9.
13. Ibid, 42.
Some of his suggestions are out of date. For example, nobody today worries about the proper usage (or pronunciation) of words like “Pall Mall.” Unless you are a 90 year old man wanting some cigarettes, you have probably never said this word.
Nonetheless, there are valuable rules and suggestions to which you should adhere:
alternate/alternative: alternate suggests “first one, then another.” Alternative suggests another possibility.1
And: it does more than link sentences together. Contrary to old wives’ tales, one may certainly start a sentence with “and.” And if one does start a sentence like so, it can have a stylistic impact.2
As to: don’t ever use it.
Because: Do not start a sentence with “The reason….and then insert because.” Even worse, never say, “Just because.” Rather, “Practice saying ‘He smashed the car because….”3
Convince: You are “convinced of” something, not “convinced to.”4
Gerunds: use the possessive case before a gerund.
Having said that: do not say that. Use “even so” or “nevertheless.”5
Hopefully: When someone says or writes, ‘Hopefully, the plan will be in operation….,” we know immediately that we are dealing with a dimwit at best.”6
However: use at the beginning of a sentence. It is not wrong to use it elsewhere, but the word always throws an emphasis on the preceding word.7
Medieval: “To pronounce in three syllables as ‘medd-eval’ or ‘mee-deeval’ in an infallible sign of fundamental illiteracy.”8
Prepositions: you can use them at the end of a sentence. As Amis notes, “The power of saying…People worth talking to instead of People with whom it is worth while to talk is not one to be lightly surrendered.”9
Shall/Will: Shall denotes futurity; will denotes intention.10
-t: Do not pronounce the “t” in words like “often” and “postpone.” As Amis notes, “But some good people, afraid they may be suspected of not knowing how to spell, say the ‘t.”11
Humor:
“In his heart, and however he may vote, no Englishman readily allows linguistic equality to an American.”12
“Thus Wordsworth, in the Immortality Ode at least, was some kind of deist; the Archbishop of Canterbury is presumably a theist, or is paid to be.”13
Conclusion
I do have one minor criticism. Amis occasionally critiques a certain usage without telling the reader what the correct usage is, often when it is not self-evident.
Endnotes
1. Amis, 7.
2. Ibid, 14.
3. Ibid, 22.
4. Ibid, 36.
5. Ibid, 95.
6. Ibid, 158.
7. Ibid, 98.
8. Ibid, 132.
9. Ibid, 166.
10. Ibid, 204.
11. Ibid, 172.
12. Ibid, 9.
13. Ibid, 42.
July 26, 2024
i’m allowed to review this after only 15 pages because i am full of spite and very opinionated. long story short: it’s shite like this that makes people think linguistics is boring. not worth the hassle!!!!
May 1, 2022
A guide to good English, along the lines of Fowler's venerable Modern English Usage, but much funnier. Amis pere went the usual route from Angry Young Man to crusty old blowhard during his career but he was rarely less than entertaining and this is a style guide that demands to be read from cover to cover.
The battle, as Amis sees it, is between berks and wankers.
Berks are careless, coarse, crass, gross and of what anybody would agree is a lower social class than one’s own. They speak in a slipshod way with dropped Hs, intruded glottal stops, and many mistakes in grammar. Left to them the English language would die of impurity, like late Latin. Wankers are prissy, fussy, priggish, prim and of what they would probably misrepresent as a higher social class than one’s own. They speak in an over-precise way with much pedantic insistence on letters not generally sounded, especially Hs. Left to them the language would die of purity, like medieval Latin.
It is with finding the happy middle ground between these two extremes of berkdom and wankerhood that Amis is concerned.
Here's Amis on hopefully, to give you a flavour:
Sorry, but this is a case too famous to be passed over in a work of the present sort. Unlike refute, hopefully in the sense of ‘it is to be hoped (that)’ has never been respectable. When someone says or writes, ‘Hopefully, the plan will be in operation by the end of the year’, we know immediately that we are dealing with a dimwit at best. The most serious objection to the use of hopefully in a dangling position, often signalled by a following comma, is not that it is not good English, though it is not, nor that it is a trendy usage, though it is, nor even that the thing remains obstinately afloat after many well-aimed salvoes of malediction, but that it is dishonest. In the example given, all that is really meant is, ‘I/we hope the plan will be in operation by the end of the year’, or still less dishonestly, ‘With luck, the plan’, etc., but the type who says or writes hopefully puts on a false show of nearly promising something while actually saying precious little. A favourite with politicians and even more with publishers.
Every reader will, of course, take issue to varying degrees with Amis's pronouncements, product as they are of his age and background, but I was pleased to find many of my own prejudices confirmed, which is, after all, the real point of a book such as this. Great fun. 4 stars.
The battle, as Amis sees it, is between berks and wankers.
Berks are careless, coarse, crass, gross and of what anybody would agree is a lower social class than one’s own. They speak in a slipshod way with dropped Hs, intruded glottal stops, and many mistakes in grammar. Left to them the English language would die of impurity, like late Latin. Wankers are prissy, fussy, priggish, prim and of what they would probably misrepresent as a higher social class than one’s own. They speak in an over-precise way with much pedantic insistence on letters not generally sounded, especially Hs. Left to them the language would die of purity, like medieval Latin.
It is with finding the happy middle ground between these two extremes of berkdom and wankerhood that Amis is concerned.
Here's Amis on hopefully, to give you a flavour:
Sorry, but this is a case too famous to be passed over in a work of the present sort. Unlike refute, hopefully in the sense of ‘it is to be hoped (that)’ has never been respectable. When someone says or writes, ‘Hopefully, the plan will be in operation by the end of the year’, we know immediately that we are dealing with a dimwit at best. The most serious objection to the use of hopefully in a dangling position, often signalled by a following comma, is not that it is not good English, though it is not, nor that it is a trendy usage, though it is, nor even that the thing remains obstinately afloat after many well-aimed salvoes of malediction, but that it is dishonest. In the example given, all that is really meant is, ‘I/we hope the plan will be in operation by the end of the year’, or still less dishonestly, ‘With luck, the plan’, etc., but the type who says or writes hopefully puts on a false show of nearly promising something while actually saying precious little. A favourite with politicians and even more with publishers.
Every reader will, of course, take issue to varying degrees with Amis's pronouncements, product as they are of his age and background, but I was pleased to find many of my own prejudices confirmed, which is, after all, the real point of a book such as this. Great fun. 4 stars.
April 1, 2022
One appreciates Amis' skewering of various forms of illiteracy (malapropisms, mindless following of trendy expressions, redundancies ["very unique"], and qualifying absolutes ["somewhat perfect"], to name a few), and these are certainly lamentable as they come from a poor understanding of the language. However, one gets the impression that he would have preferred to keep English from changing, at least the form of British English that he learned growing up. Language simply won't do that. The attachment of meaning to form is, as the Swiss linguist de Saussure pointed out well over a century ago, both arbitrary (e.g., English milk, Geman Milch, Spanish leche) and a social construct that can and does change over time. And though one can decry loss of meaning (e.g., the modern day informal use of "awesome" to mean wonderfully good or pleasing rather than its older "inspiring great fear"), such changes are inevitable. If grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary and spelling didn't change, we would still be speaking an English wholly incomprehensible to modern speakers. Try, for example, to read the first few lines of Chaucer’s “The Pardoner’s Tale”:
Whan they han goon nat fully half a mile,
Right as they wolde han trodden over a stile,
An oold man and a povré with hem mette.
This oldé man ful mekely hem grette,
And seydé thus, “Now, lords, God yow see!”
However much one may, like, lament inept use of one’s, like, native language, and rightly so, the point is that, like, language, any language, simply won’t, like, stand still over, like, time. One does, wish, however, that the “like” speakers would simply stop it. Thus one quite understands Amis’ motivation. *sigh*
Whan they han goon nat fully half a mile,
Right as they wolde han trodden over a stile,
An oold man and a povré with hem mette.
This oldé man ful mekely hem grette,
And seydé thus, “Now, lords, God yow see!”
However much one may, like, lament inept use of one’s, like, native language, and rightly so, the point is that, like, language, any language, simply won’t, like, stand still over, like, time. One does, wish, however, that the “like” speakers would simply stop it. Thus one quite understands Amis’ motivation. *sigh*
July 6, 2025
The King’s English – A Guide to Modern Usage by Magister Ludi Kingsley Amis author of Lucky Jim http://realini.blogspot.com/2023/03/l... one of The All –TIME 100 Novels
10 out of 10
This is another magnum opus, a fabulous, outstanding book from the King of Comedy – from the introduction to the work we find from Martin Amis, the son of the author, himself an accomplished auteur (this would attract the wrath of the Magus, but there it is) who has died soon after the premiere of an adaptation of one of his books, acclaimed at the Cannes film Festival, that the great luminary tolerated the nickname friends used ‘King’- proof that he could engage with so many domains, with great success, comedy, science fiction, short stories, memoirs http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/12/m... even volumes on drink…
Nevertheless, reading The King’s English is both an exhilarating, exuberant adventure – well, at least I am trying to learn something, I was tempted to put experience in, but then remembered one of the many suggestions, rules from the book, to avoid putting words starting with the same letter one after the other, to avoid repetition (that one I had known, and tried to apply) and so much more – and it could be depressing at times, because one could see that he or she – Kingsley Amis is careful to put he or she, and does show he is not sexist, with the jokes he makes, but he was not writing at a time when they had to be introduced as well – makes so many mistakes, and they would better stop writing…
Girl, Woman, Other http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/06/g... by Bernardine Evaristo is the co-winner of The Booker Prize for 2019, and it explains the ‘gender is one of the biggest lies of our civilization’ – or words to that effect – and I would be very curious to know what The Magister Ludi thought about that concept, the book and so much more…although The King’s English is a very good indicator of what the Magus thought about the topics introduced in the opus
Kingsley Amis was very open and progressive on many issues, albeit he was a conservative, supporter of Margaret Thatcher – he was invited to dinner, he mentioned, or gave as a gift Russian Hide and Seek http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/07/r... and The Iron Lady told him to find some other inspiration in the crystal ball, when told about the subject of the novel, which describes a future in which the Russians would have occupied Britain and other, massive parts of the world – indeed, they are working on it, with the calamitous war they have started in Ukraine
Like all the spectacular books of this immense savant, The King’s English is both inspiring, hilarious and stupendous – at times, this one is also somewhat or very humiliating, for we may find that we do not know much, if anything about some, or many words, the way to use or avoid them – it is an occasion to find how perceptions have changed, many words have become unusable, while others have a new meaning – gay shows how open minded Kingsley Amis was, in its acceptance, while others rejected it – he mentions Chesterton, ‘The World was old, but you and I were gay’, saying he is debarred from quoting it in public
Attitudes had changed, ‘Lucky Jim...all he does.is the sort of 'womanizing' that a modern hero would outdo in an opening paragraph…In my Second novel the hero is stated, not shown, to go to bed with a female not his wife’ and then when he writes poor bugger, the publisher tells him that ‘the six letter word might lose 2000 copies for some Library and the he asks what about bloody fool, it turns out that this is acceptable’ later the use of fuck and so much more does not raise an eyebrow and now it is so common…
The tone is often mordant and Kingsley Amis says that ‘one wants to tell Graham Greene, Anthony Burgess http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/12/a... to get off the high horse, there are two categories, The Wankers and the Berks, the former are pretentious, insist on the traditions, but they come across as snobs and worse, while the latter are uneducated, rather primitive – or so I think about it now, however cruel that could be to myself, after all, I fall into the category of the illiterate, the class of those who make the mistakes that indicate such lack of education
‘A lunatic may have the Delusion (however plausible it can seem at times) that children are agents of Satan…Judgmental- I should have thought on the contrary that being (unfavorably) judgmental about things like murder and people like Stalin was required by sanity as well as decency; tolerance for the tolerable and intolerance for the intolerable…’ this shows to me how hilarious, mordant and accurate this Magician was, inspiring (he does say that role model is a barbarity, and I was tempted to say he is a one, I just deleted a repetition, for we learnt from this text, don’t we) and that brings to mind One Fat Englishman http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/08/o...
We have these conversations at the sauna Downtown (we have moved in the meantime, because these fellas have decided to renovate, and we will have to see what that means, improvement or otherwise) about the war in Ukraine, were this bastardy doctor, union leader as well, promotes the Russian propaganda, saying ‘Putin and Zelenski are two cretins’ –in fact, that is what another ghoul, Lula of Brazil, says- and then I have decided to stop talking to this ‘doctor Mengele’, I gave him the harsh nickname, but then what are you, if you embrace monsters, ‘intolerance for the intolerable’ is the norm
Now for a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
10 out of 10
This is another magnum opus, a fabulous, outstanding book from the King of Comedy – from the introduction to the work we find from Martin Amis, the son of the author, himself an accomplished auteur (this would attract the wrath of the Magus, but there it is) who has died soon after the premiere of an adaptation of one of his books, acclaimed at the Cannes film Festival, that the great luminary tolerated the nickname friends used ‘King’- proof that he could engage with so many domains, with great success, comedy, science fiction, short stories, memoirs http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/12/m... even volumes on drink…
Nevertheless, reading The King’s English is both an exhilarating, exuberant adventure – well, at least I am trying to learn something, I was tempted to put experience in, but then remembered one of the many suggestions, rules from the book, to avoid putting words starting with the same letter one after the other, to avoid repetition (that one I had known, and tried to apply) and so much more – and it could be depressing at times, because one could see that he or she – Kingsley Amis is careful to put he or she, and does show he is not sexist, with the jokes he makes, but he was not writing at a time when they had to be introduced as well – makes so many mistakes, and they would better stop writing…
Girl, Woman, Other http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/06/g... by Bernardine Evaristo is the co-winner of The Booker Prize for 2019, and it explains the ‘gender is one of the biggest lies of our civilization’ – or words to that effect – and I would be very curious to know what The Magister Ludi thought about that concept, the book and so much more…although The King’s English is a very good indicator of what the Magus thought about the topics introduced in the opus
Kingsley Amis was very open and progressive on many issues, albeit he was a conservative, supporter of Margaret Thatcher – he was invited to dinner, he mentioned, or gave as a gift Russian Hide and Seek http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/07/r... and The Iron Lady told him to find some other inspiration in the crystal ball, when told about the subject of the novel, which describes a future in which the Russians would have occupied Britain and other, massive parts of the world – indeed, they are working on it, with the calamitous war they have started in Ukraine
Like all the spectacular books of this immense savant, The King’s English is both inspiring, hilarious and stupendous – at times, this one is also somewhat or very humiliating, for we may find that we do not know much, if anything about some, or many words, the way to use or avoid them – it is an occasion to find how perceptions have changed, many words have become unusable, while others have a new meaning – gay shows how open minded Kingsley Amis was, in its acceptance, while others rejected it – he mentions Chesterton, ‘The World was old, but you and I were gay’, saying he is debarred from quoting it in public
Attitudes had changed, ‘Lucky Jim...all he does.is the sort of 'womanizing' that a modern hero would outdo in an opening paragraph…In my Second novel the hero is stated, not shown, to go to bed with a female not his wife’ and then when he writes poor bugger, the publisher tells him that ‘the six letter word might lose 2000 copies for some Library and the he asks what about bloody fool, it turns out that this is acceptable’ later the use of fuck and so much more does not raise an eyebrow and now it is so common…
The tone is often mordant and Kingsley Amis says that ‘one wants to tell Graham Greene, Anthony Burgess http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/12/a... to get off the high horse, there are two categories, The Wankers and the Berks, the former are pretentious, insist on the traditions, but they come across as snobs and worse, while the latter are uneducated, rather primitive – or so I think about it now, however cruel that could be to myself, after all, I fall into the category of the illiterate, the class of those who make the mistakes that indicate such lack of education
‘A lunatic may have the Delusion (however plausible it can seem at times) that children are agents of Satan…Judgmental- I should have thought on the contrary that being (unfavorably) judgmental about things like murder and people like Stalin was required by sanity as well as decency; tolerance for the tolerable and intolerance for the intolerable…’ this shows to me how hilarious, mordant and accurate this Magician was, inspiring (he does say that role model is a barbarity, and I was tempted to say he is a one, I just deleted a repetition, for we learnt from this text, don’t we) and that brings to mind One Fat Englishman http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/08/o...
We have these conversations at the sauna Downtown (we have moved in the meantime, because these fellas have decided to renovate, and we will have to see what that means, improvement or otherwise) about the war in Ukraine, were this bastardy doctor, union leader as well, promotes the Russian propaganda, saying ‘Putin and Zelenski are two cretins’ –in fact, that is what another ghoul, Lula of Brazil, says- and then I have decided to stop talking to this ‘doctor Mengele’, I gave him the harsh nickname, but then what are you, if you embrace monsters, ‘intolerance for the intolerable’ is the norm
Now for a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
March 13, 2022
Overbearing pedant and sneering Tory Kingsley Amis rants at length about the degradation of the English language … in other words, it’s a great time!
This actually isn’t the vitriolic diatribe it could have been. Though Amis’ tendency is unmistakably reactionary, his criticisms are mostly measured and his tone is almost affable in parts. Yes he’s a curmudgeon, but above all Amis is a word nerd who takes a pedant’s delight in collating and castigating common errors and cliches. Occasionally he does enter rant mode like when his musings on dictionaries turns into an enraged anecdote about his newspaper:
Somebody of my sort of age and taste is bound to experience a series of unpleasant little surprises here. Two such turned up the other day in the correspondence columns of what would undoubtedly call itself a quality newspaper. Both were mild complaints, one that the phrase ‘the Greek Calends’ was left unglossed in a recent issue, the other that a few not very hard-looking words of French had not been translated. When I had stopped screaming with rage I checked that the Greek Calends were indeed glossed in the smallest of my dictionaries. I have not much French but enough, it was soon clear, to deal with the French phrase objected to, perhaps actually recognised it. By now I had nearly calmed down, not quite, though, because how dare two grown-up people not penetrate such mysteries for themselves instead of advertising their ignorance? Easily enough is the answer, in an era when even quite inquiring types have got out of the habit of looking things up.
If you’re put off by the old man yells at cloud energy, I should point out that there are many thoughtful passages. One of my favorites is his speculation on how the death of Latin affected our use of English:
The foregoing is a mere exordium in that I have no intention of going on to say that to have studied Latin is in itself somehow good for you or for your English style. It is not that a knowledge of Latin protects anybody from making mistakes about the meaning of English words, because the meanings of words are not fixed, they change in and after their move from one language to another. It is true that defendo means ‘I defend’, but a muscle is not a little mouse, which etymologically it is, nor is a pencil what its origins declare it to be, a doubly small penis. Neither is it the case that, as schoolmasters are supposed to have thought or said at one time, one was helped to think by mastering that language, as if it were a course of mental gymnastics. Nevertheless the student of Latin, as of any considerable dead language, must constantly be trying to choose the right word to give the meaning of a Latin expression in English or an English expression in Latin. And if the writing of English generally is in decline, as many would say it is, we may be tempted to say that people no longer try to choose the right word as they once did. They often got it wrong, but they tried. Do they now?
… The chances are that no particular virtue attaches to Latin as a language, although its role in our culture is unique and uniquely important. Any dead language will do as the kind of trainer I mean, such as Ancient Greek or, were it copious enough and intelligible, Etruscan. But deadness is necessary. A living language is by definition unfixed, in a state of continuous development and change, taking up, adapting and often dropping dialecticisms, provincialisms, technical terms, slang of all sorts, foreign expressions and more. It has no choice but to be useless as any sort of example.
The book’s disjointed organization in combination with passages like those above add to its charm. Both passages are found under “D” for “Dictionaries” and “Disappearance of Latin,” along with standard discussions on the definitions of words like disinterested and dimension. This creates the pleasant feeling of being in a conversation with a particularly learned friend. The most unpleasant part of this book is learning about the words I was robbed of before I was even born, like dilemma:
This is a very precise and was once a very useful word meaning ‘a position that leaves only a choice between two equally unwelcome possibilities’. Somebody in such a position was often said to be ‘on the horns of a dilemma’; the word was narrow and clear. Unfortunately it has ceased to be either and for many years has been resorted to by journalists and others on the look-out for a posh-appearing synonym for ‘difficulty, quandary’. This perversion has made dilemma unusable by careful writers.
It’s a little like inflation: it doesn’t matter how responsible you are because forces beyond your control will rob you of your riches. This is why the odious non-argument “language changes” is such a dangerous phrase. People trot this one out to negate all grammar complaints and suggest the people making them are silly. But why is it the default assumption that the change is good? Why should I accept such callous relativism?
Obviously some errors are worse than others and some don’t matter at all. Who cares about who or whom? We lose nothing by getting rid of it and it was a stupid convention to begin with. The problem is when that attitude turns into undiscriminating complacency. The distinction between tragedy and atrocity matters; you should know affect is a verb and illicit is an adjective; and please, please stop misusing the word literally–it’s one of our most useful words and you’re robbing us of it because you’re either too lazy or incompetent to create hyperbole in a proper way.
Amis himself is a master stylist who holds to the standards he lays out, and reading this book inspires you to try harder to write and speak well. If you care about standards, if you want to correct some bad habits, or if you simply love language for language’s sake then you’ll like this book.
This actually isn’t the vitriolic diatribe it could have been. Though Amis’ tendency is unmistakably reactionary, his criticisms are mostly measured and his tone is almost affable in parts. Yes he’s a curmudgeon, but above all Amis is a word nerd who takes a pedant’s delight in collating and castigating common errors and cliches. Occasionally he does enter rant mode like when his musings on dictionaries turns into an enraged anecdote about his newspaper:
Somebody of my sort of age and taste is bound to experience a series of unpleasant little surprises here. Two such turned up the other day in the correspondence columns of what would undoubtedly call itself a quality newspaper. Both were mild complaints, one that the phrase ‘the Greek Calends’ was left unglossed in a recent issue, the other that a few not very hard-looking words of French had not been translated. When I had stopped screaming with rage I checked that the Greek Calends were indeed glossed in the smallest of my dictionaries. I have not much French but enough, it was soon clear, to deal with the French phrase objected to, perhaps actually recognised it. By now I had nearly calmed down, not quite, though, because how dare two grown-up people not penetrate such mysteries for themselves instead of advertising their ignorance? Easily enough is the answer, in an era when even quite inquiring types have got out of the habit of looking things up.
If you’re put off by the old man yells at cloud energy, I should point out that there are many thoughtful passages. One of my favorites is his speculation on how the death of Latin affected our use of English:
The foregoing is a mere exordium in that I have no intention of going on to say that to have studied Latin is in itself somehow good for you or for your English style. It is not that a knowledge of Latin protects anybody from making mistakes about the meaning of English words, because the meanings of words are not fixed, they change in and after their move from one language to another. It is true that defendo means ‘I defend’, but a muscle is not a little mouse, which etymologically it is, nor is a pencil what its origins declare it to be, a doubly small penis. Neither is it the case that, as schoolmasters are supposed to have thought or said at one time, one was helped to think by mastering that language, as if it were a course of mental gymnastics. Nevertheless the student of Latin, as of any considerable dead language, must constantly be trying to choose the right word to give the meaning of a Latin expression in English or an English expression in Latin. And if the writing of English generally is in decline, as many would say it is, we may be tempted to say that people no longer try to choose the right word as they once did. They often got it wrong, but they tried. Do they now?
… The chances are that no particular virtue attaches to Latin as a language, although its role in our culture is unique and uniquely important. Any dead language will do as the kind of trainer I mean, such as Ancient Greek or, were it copious enough and intelligible, Etruscan. But deadness is necessary. A living language is by definition unfixed, in a state of continuous development and change, taking up, adapting and often dropping dialecticisms, provincialisms, technical terms, slang of all sorts, foreign expressions and more. It has no choice but to be useless as any sort of example.
The book’s disjointed organization in combination with passages like those above add to its charm. Both passages are found under “D” for “Dictionaries” and “Disappearance of Latin,” along with standard discussions on the definitions of words like disinterested and dimension. This creates the pleasant feeling of being in a conversation with a particularly learned friend. The most unpleasant part of this book is learning about the words I was robbed of before I was even born, like dilemma:
This is a very precise and was once a very useful word meaning ‘a position that leaves only a choice between two equally unwelcome possibilities’. Somebody in such a position was often said to be ‘on the horns of a dilemma’; the word was narrow and clear. Unfortunately it has ceased to be either and for many years has been resorted to by journalists and others on the look-out for a posh-appearing synonym for ‘difficulty, quandary’. This perversion has made dilemma unusable by careful writers.
It’s a little like inflation: it doesn’t matter how responsible you are because forces beyond your control will rob you of your riches. This is why the odious non-argument “language changes” is such a dangerous phrase. People trot this one out to negate all grammar complaints and suggest the people making them are silly. But why is it the default assumption that the change is good? Why should I accept such callous relativism?
Obviously some errors are worse than others and some don’t matter at all. Who cares about who or whom? We lose nothing by getting rid of it and it was a stupid convention to begin with. The problem is when that attitude turns into undiscriminating complacency. The distinction between tragedy and atrocity matters; you should know affect is a verb and illicit is an adjective; and please, please stop misusing the word literally–it’s one of our most useful words and you’re robbing us of it because you’re either too lazy or incompetent to create hyperbole in a proper way.
Amis himself is a master stylist who holds to the standards he lays out, and reading this book inspires you to try harder to write and speak well. If you care about standards, if you want to correct some bad habits, or if you simply love language for language’s sake then you’ll like this book.
February 18, 2025
Any languages that are not dwindling are, by definition, constantly evolving. The process of evolution is never within our grasp, much less the uneasy truth that what you have learned will one day be considered quaint and so will you consider the latest form newfangled—barbarous in Amis’s word.
Turning 72 years old, even the great author felt the foregoing, and called for giving up or recasting certain words and phrases he deemed controversial to write or utter, no less than a dozen times. The unclear stance shown by the title and its double entendre only adds to the uneasiness—dilemma of having to decide between official habit and new coinage, not unheard of in the debate of linguistic purism. By the way, Amis approved the ‘not un-’ form but not George Orwell and H. W. Fowler.
Going with fresh words often infers, though not always, that you are discarded by society with the body of knowledge represented by your era. So it makes sense to uphold how you speak and what you write to a point, as descriptivists—the most charitable of all language users—would sometimes do.
Therefore, the question remains how I read this book from a twenty-first century point of view, if indeed the usage therein recorded were démodé, if not archaic. I, for one, take joy in reading what in my peer’s eyes is the equivalent of the Dead Sea Scrolls, written by fossils from prehistory, otherwise known as the early twentieth century. I derived huge fun from reading aloud his phonetic transcripts and mimicking his way of dealing with certain words, which was less affected by spelling pronunciation and less used today.
The more inconsistencies I encountered, the more I became easy towards the utterances I cannot stand that Gen Z uses. It is again part of the natural evolving process, in which my teachers, peers and children are but a specimen of a laminated time frame. There is nothing wrong to suppose that in some decades, I may not have the courage to own up to my expired lexicon like King gracefully did here, but I will need that.
Turning 72 years old, even the great author felt the foregoing, and called for giving up or recasting certain words and phrases he deemed controversial to write or utter, no less than a dozen times. The unclear stance shown by the title and its double entendre only adds to the uneasiness—dilemma of having to decide between official habit and new coinage, not unheard of in the debate of linguistic purism. By the way, Amis approved the ‘not un-’ form but not George Orwell and H. W. Fowler.
Going with fresh words often infers, though not always, that you are discarded by society with the body of knowledge represented by your era. So it makes sense to uphold how you speak and what you write to a point, as descriptivists—the most charitable of all language users—would sometimes do.
Therefore, the question remains how I read this book from a twenty-first century point of view, if indeed the usage therein recorded were démodé, if not archaic. I, for one, take joy in reading what in my peer’s eyes is the equivalent of the Dead Sea Scrolls, written by fossils from prehistory, otherwise known as the early twentieth century. I derived huge fun from reading aloud his phonetic transcripts and mimicking his way of dealing with certain words, which was less affected by spelling pronunciation and less used today.
The more inconsistencies I encountered, the more I became easy towards the utterances I cannot stand that Gen Z uses. It is again part of the natural evolving process, in which my teachers, peers and children are but a specimen of a laminated time frame. There is nothing wrong to suppose that in some decades, I may not have the courage to own up to my expired lexicon like King gracefully did here, but I will need that.
May 14, 2025
Had a wonderful time with this book picked up at my brother's house in Nebraska. Kingsley Amis is one of many authors I should have already read, but hadn't. This brilliantly witty alphabetical guide to modern English usage was a nice introduction and truly a joy to read.
"Merry Christmas: It may betray excessive zeal to look for solecisms on a Christmas card, but here goes. The form of words above this brief article is the correct one, so never anywhere write Xmas for Christmas and also never print or write what many now do, Happy Christmas. Merry means among other things 'given over to merrymaking or becoming merry, perhaps with the assistance of alcohol', a festive interval in the yearly round. There is a connection with the word mirth. In the past you went on to wish somebody 'a happy and prosperous New Year'. Unlike merry, happy connotes a settled state, one that might well last a whole year. But whether Christmas be merry or happy, remember not to pronounce the T in it." pp 132-133
"Merry Christmas: It may betray excessive zeal to look for solecisms on a Christmas card, but here goes. The form of words above this brief article is the correct one, so never anywhere write Xmas for Christmas and also never print or write what many now do, Happy Christmas. Merry means among other things 'given over to merrymaking or becoming merry, perhaps with the assistance of alcohol', a festive interval in the yearly round. There is a connection with the word mirth. In the past you went on to wish somebody 'a happy and prosperous New Year'. Unlike merry, happy connotes a settled state, one that might well last a whole year. But whether Christmas be merry or happy, remember not to pronounce the T in it." pp 132-133
February 4, 2023
read this a few years ago (probably in 2018 or thereabout) and it’s definitely the worst language book i’ve ever read. i’m reviewing this from memory but it’s just a bunch of random opinions on the english language and its use, many of them based on myths that the author obtained in his latin fuelled adolescence at an english grammar school.*
for instance, he is under the very misguided impression that english gets its grammar from latin, which is a (nationalistic) myth which engineers a ~noble~ heritage for the english language but has no basis in reality. but mostly in this book amis goes on random tangents (have a bath = correct, take a bath = incorrect). if you’re interested in learning something about the english language read something written by a linguist (or any author actually interested in language beyond intuiting what sounds right and what sounds wrong)
*if i’ve understood it correctly, grammar schools were a sort of “gifted” programme for working class students in britain, where beyond rote memorising latin and greek they learned to think like the privately educated
for instance, he is under the very misguided impression that english gets its grammar from latin, which is a (nationalistic) myth which engineers a ~noble~ heritage for the english language but has no basis in reality. but mostly in this book amis goes on random tangents (have a bath = correct, take a bath = incorrect). if you’re interested in learning something about the english language read something written by a linguist (or any author actually interested in language beyond intuiting what sounds right and what sounds wrong)
*if i’ve understood it correctly, grammar schools were a sort of “gifted” programme for working class students in britain, where beyond rote memorising latin and greek they learned to think like the privately educated
August 11, 2022
Witty, learned, pompous, and arrogant. The kings English is Kingsley Amis’s guide to style and usage, and it covers everything from feminist language to propose use of “whom” (basically, don’t) and more. Is it authoritative? No, probably not. But it did inspire me to buy a copy of Plain Words and Fowler’s dictionary of usage, so there’s that.
The thing about Amis for me is that I like him, even if I think he’s a bit much. To wit:
“Anybody who writes or speaks to the effect that anything is what anything, anything at all is about, especially all about, deserves excommunication from the ways and habitation of mankind…” (pg 216)
One might update that by applying the same to writers who say “what we talk about when we talk about (subject)” which become a shopworn cliche in recent years. I digress.
It’s a book for people who do weird things like read the Chicago Manual of Style and keep a copy of Strunk and White handy. Get it for the writer in your life. Maybe they’ll thank you, but if nothing else they’ll direct their energy away from you for a bit.
The thing about Amis for me is that I like him, even if I think he’s a bit much. To wit:
“Anybody who writes or speaks to the effect that anything is what anything, anything at all is about, especially all about, deserves excommunication from the ways and habitation of mankind…” (pg 216)
One might update that by applying the same to writers who say “what we talk about when we talk about (subject)” which become a shopworn cliche in recent years. I digress.
It’s a book for people who do weird things like read the Chicago Manual of Style and keep a copy of Strunk and White handy. Get it for the writer in your life. Maybe they’ll thank you, but if nothing else they’ll direct their energy away from you for a bit.
March 19, 2018
Good blurb. Book is delightful, elucidating, and infuriating all at once. I'm glad I kept it for a few years after the first read, to read again this month. Just a bit at a time, of course. Otoh, as language evolves, books like this do become a bit dated and therefore occasionally confusing and/or frustrating. So, I don't know if I should recommend it or not....
Did you know that weaving fabric and a weaving motion are two different words? And they're conjugated differently. The fabric is woven, but the driver weaved through traffic. Not that anyone is likely to notice if we write it wrong, but there it is.
Did you know that weaving fabric and a weaving motion are two different words? And they're conjugated differently. The fabric is woven, but the driver weaved through traffic. Not that anyone is likely to notice if we write it wrong, but there it is.
March 17, 2025
A guilty pleasure. What a pompous, arrogant entitled prig of a man! In this book, he explains how to use and pronounce English words correctly. He’s the sort of man you’d hate being in conversation with, in case you made a mistake and faced his judgment.. Yet, there is fun to had in its pages. Amis is undoubtedly witty and that aspect of his writing I found enjoyable. Don’t tell anyone.
May 22, 2020
Glancing, not exhaustive enough to be an essential reference--Amis himself reaches and reaches for the touchstone (Fowler), and so draws the reader's trust beyond--but generally charming and crotchety, a lustrous shard of bedrock.
May 25, 2023
Kingsley Amis’ "The King’s English" is a brilliantly composed, insightful, and at times, hilariously acerbic guide to the English language. The fact that it also happens to be penned by one of Britain's most prolific and celebrated writers is the cherry on top. It’s a delightful exploration of linguistic etiquette that deserves no less than a five-star rating.
Amis’ keen and sardonic observations make this an utterly engaging read. His descriptions of common errors and their remedies are both entertaining and enlightening, with enough examples to keep readers engrossed and a tone that keeps them chuckling. Whether it's the misuse of apostrophes or the horrors of mispronunciation, Amis tackles every linguistic pitfall with characteristic wit and a touch of snobbish humor.
While "The King's English" might be considered a style guide, it's more accurately a passion project, with Amis sharing his love and mastery of the English language. His rules aren't so much dictatorial mandates as they are friendly advice from a lover of English to his fellow enthusiasts. He doesn't just tell us what's correct; he explains why, delving into the reasoning behind his recommendations with copious examples and engaging anecdotes.
Amis' style is witty, humorous, and unabashedly opinionated. Even when discussing the driest grammatical points, his sparkling prose keeps the reader engaged. This is a grammar book that reads like a series of conversations with a particularly erudite and entertaining friend.
"The King's English" is not just for writers or English language students; it’s a must-read for anyone with an interest in the beauty, complexity, and idiosyncrasies of the English language. It's a treasure trove of linguistic wisdom wrapped in a package of delightful humor and captivating storytelling.
In awarding this book five stars, I celebrate not just Amis's masterful grasp of English but also his ability to make a potentially dull topic into an entertaining and engaging read. Whether you're a lover of language or just a fan of Amis's incisive wit, "The King's English" is a book that promises to educate and entertain in equal measure.
Amis’ keen and sardonic observations make this an utterly engaging read. His descriptions of common errors and their remedies are both entertaining and enlightening, with enough examples to keep readers engrossed and a tone that keeps them chuckling. Whether it's the misuse of apostrophes or the horrors of mispronunciation, Amis tackles every linguistic pitfall with characteristic wit and a touch of snobbish humor.
While "The King's English" might be considered a style guide, it's more accurately a passion project, with Amis sharing his love and mastery of the English language. His rules aren't so much dictatorial mandates as they are friendly advice from a lover of English to his fellow enthusiasts. He doesn't just tell us what's correct; he explains why, delving into the reasoning behind his recommendations with copious examples and engaging anecdotes.
Amis' style is witty, humorous, and unabashedly opinionated. Even when discussing the driest grammatical points, his sparkling prose keeps the reader engaged. This is a grammar book that reads like a series of conversations with a particularly erudite and entertaining friend.
"The King's English" is not just for writers or English language students; it’s a must-read for anyone with an interest in the beauty, complexity, and idiosyncrasies of the English language. It's a treasure trove of linguistic wisdom wrapped in a package of delightful humor and captivating storytelling.
In awarding this book five stars, I celebrate not just Amis's masterful grasp of English but also his ability to make a potentially dull topic into an entertaining and engaging read. Whether you're a lover of language or just a fan of Amis's incisive wit, "The King's English" is a book that promises to educate and entertain in equal measure.
October 30, 2025
This is not a book to be read through quickly nor is it comprehensive enough to be used as a reference. It is a book to be dipped into. Every so often it takes up a place in our toilet, where a section or two can be read daily and savoured; I'm sure Kingsley would have approved.
April 27, 2018
Disappointing and unhelpful. Its only redeeming feature is its veneration of Fowler. I can't understand why other readers rate it so highly.
February 15, 2021
I prefer Bill Bryson's Dictionary. The King's English is a bit too British and old to be of much use to a universal readership today.
July 25, 2021
Feature-length glossary of minimal interest.
March 16, 2023
Pretty old fashioned and curmudgeonly, but that happens to suit me. I'm a sucker for usage guides!
January 16, 2025
Old Man Opens Constructive Good Faith Dialogue With Cloud.
July 31, 2025
Reasonable and humorous. Amis' rant about Forster is a highlight (and quite right). Worth keeping on the shelf, next to Fowler, Partridge and Heffer.
January 2, 2025
Good info.
December 16, 2007
I'm about half way through - I should have finished it, but have been distracted with work that needed to be finished this weekend and other things getting in the way.
When Marx's wife, Jenny, died, it is said that he could not think about economic theory and revolutionary stuff and instead threw himself into mathematics for a while. I've been finding it comforting lately, while trying to distract myself, to read books on English usage. I've just finished going through Bryson's Mother Tongue again and now Amis and next I'm going to finally set aside some time to read Fowler (something I've threatened to do for years, but never have).
These books always seem like they should be great little reference books - something one could dip into when trying to work out whether to write inquiry or enquiry - except they are never really organised in a way that makes finding that sort of thing in any way easy. I've finally decided that the only way they can be useful is to read them from cover to cover and then hopefully I'll work out where to find stuff when I need to check.
Amis is quite amusing, in that very-English-way (of say, Olivier in Sleuth). I'm sure many people would find him annoying and even pompous, but then, wouldn't one need to be, in a sense, to write such a book? I was saying to a friend today, these are a bit like books of etiquette and I'm sure there is a similarity of feeling that exists in the type of person who writes both kinds of 'advice' book.
What I like most about Amis is that he explains why a number of words and phrases have been so badly misused that it is necessary to never use them again. This is because using them will mean you will be misunderstood. And since being understood is the only reason for writing anything that limits understanding is to be avoided.
And that has to be advice worth reading any book for.
Like I said, I'm half way through, but it is a good little book and has made me smile a dozen times and laugh a few times too.
He does expect you to read this book with a good dictionary at hand and even Fowler's at your elbow - which is good practice, I guess.
When Marx's wife, Jenny, died, it is said that he could not think about economic theory and revolutionary stuff and instead threw himself into mathematics for a while. I've been finding it comforting lately, while trying to distract myself, to read books on English usage. I've just finished going through Bryson's Mother Tongue again and now Amis and next I'm going to finally set aside some time to read Fowler (something I've threatened to do for years, but never have).
These books always seem like they should be great little reference books - something one could dip into when trying to work out whether to write inquiry or enquiry - except they are never really organised in a way that makes finding that sort of thing in any way easy. I've finally decided that the only way they can be useful is to read them from cover to cover and then hopefully I'll work out where to find stuff when I need to check.
Amis is quite amusing, in that very-English-way (of say, Olivier in Sleuth). I'm sure many people would find him annoying and even pompous, but then, wouldn't one need to be, in a sense, to write such a book? I was saying to a friend today, these are a bit like books of etiquette and I'm sure there is a similarity of feeling that exists in the type of person who writes both kinds of 'advice' book.
What I like most about Amis is that he explains why a number of words and phrases have been so badly misused that it is necessary to never use them again. This is because using them will mean you will be misunderstood. And since being understood is the only reason for writing anything that limits understanding is to be avoided.
And that has to be advice worth reading any book for.
Like I said, I'm half way through, but it is a good little book and has made me smile a dozen times and laugh a few times too.
He does expect you to read this book with a good dictionary at hand and even Fowler's at your elbow - which is good practice, I guess.
April 30, 2014
In chess, as played by most everyone, one might argue that all moves are errors, some awful and obvious, others unnoticeable, except by masters or computers. The game is difficult to play well, impossible to play perfectly. The same could be said of writing – difficult to do well, impossible to do perfectly, as The King’s English reminds us on every page. To read this book is to encounter numerous examples of errors, some awful and obvious (or “deplorable” as Amis might, and frequently does, say), others unnoticeable, except by pedants or grammarians. In short, reading this book underscores most every writer’s inadequacies.
Nevertheless, despite the potential to dishearten, the book is an enormously enjoyable read. How can anyone not love that 'decimate' originally meant “a form of collective punishment in the Roman army, whereby every tenth man in a mutinous or demoralized party of soldiers was executed, so to decimate in English was used to mean ‘destroy a small but noticeable part of.’” If that doesn’t turn you on, this book is probably not for you. Otherwise, pick it up, you’ll enjoy it.
Nevertheless, despite the potential to dishearten, the book is an enormously enjoyable read. How can anyone not love that 'decimate' originally meant “a form of collective punishment in the Roman army, whereby every tenth man in a mutinous or demoralized party of soldiers was executed, so to decimate in English was used to mean ‘destroy a small but noticeable part of.’” If that doesn’t turn you on, this book is probably not for you. Otherwise, pick it up, you’ll enjoy it.
April 8, 2012
One of the best things about this is Martin Amis's candid introduction to his father's book on language, details below:
'His paternal style, in the early years, can best be described as amiably minimalist – in other words, my mother did it all.'
'When I was 16 or 17, and started reading books for grown-ups, I became, in his eyes, worth talking to. And when, six or seven years later, I started using the English language in the literary pages of the newspapers, I became worth correcting.'
Link here - http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/... - if you want to read the rest but the intro becomes less about his father (and their relationship) and more about his love of language and as the intro continues it becomes apparent that Amis Snr, despite being a prat, has become influential on Amis junior.
The book's good too - fair on ineviatible changes in language, funny as always in opiniated, toxic fashion but old-fashioned, too and English. I don't think I would have liked Kingsley but have always liked his writing.
'His paternal style, in the early years, can best be described as amiably minimalist – in other words, my mother did it all.'
'When I was 16 or 17, and started reading books for grown-ups, I became, in his eyes, worth talking to. And when, six or seven years later, I started using the English language in the literary pages of the newspapers, I became worth correcting.'
Link here - http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/... - if you want to read the rest but the intro becomes less about his father (and their relationship) and more about his love of language and as the intro continues it becomes apparent that Amis Snr, despite being a prat, has become influential on Amis junior.
The book's good too - fair on ineviatible changes in language, funny as always in opiniated, toxic fashion but old-fashioned, too and English. I don't think I would have liked Kingsley but have always liked his writing.
March 23, 2007
An absolutely delightful guide to usage--you'll find at least one or two things you didn't previously know, but you'll really just enjoy his wit, and learning more about British English versus American English.
December 22, 2007
Kind of like his letters, this book was a big let down when I had an idea of how funny it was going to be. I thought it would be something like The Devil's Dictionary, but instead it more like an excuse to cut down tres and make paper for books.
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