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The Little Book of Confusables: Simple Spelling and Usage Tips to Help Smart People Avoid Stupid Mistakes
Multi-award-winner, loved by language professionals everywhere
With 600 commonly confused words in 300+ indispensable, fun and gorgeous pages, The Little Book of Confusables is the desktop essential you never knew you needed.This FUN guide to the spellings EVEN WRITERS GET WRONG helps you supercharge your vocabulary and avoid embarrassing mistakes.
What trips you up? PRACTICE/PRACTISE, AFFECT/EFFECT, ELICIT/ILLICIT, COMPLIMENT/COMPLEMENT, HOARD/HORDE?
Using the wrong word can completely change your message – and lead to embarrassing mistakes!
★ BALD men aren’t always BOLD.
★ DISEASED may be bad, but DECEASED is a whole lot worse.
★ Dramatic CORDS require the fashion police.
★ And heaven forbid you ask someone to ‘BARE with me’ – unless you’re a fan of getting naked with strangers.
Loved by language professionals, business owners, marketing departments, crossword lovers and students, this brilliant bestselling book will help you write with confidence and avoid embarrassing mistakes.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING"Brilliant! The perfect companion for anyone who ever has to write anything!"
Louisa Chudley, Founder, Spark Social
“What a clever, useful, nifty book! Just wonderful!”
Tom Read Wilson, TV Presenter and Author
“This book is amazing – no matter how many years you’ve been writing and no matter how much of a grammar nerd you are. It’s one of those books you’ll keep next to your computer at all times.”
Anna Gunning, Director, Gunning Marketing
I’ve been working with words for 20+ years and I still get plenty of these mixed up. With this great little book on my desk, everything is clear!
Tom Albrighton, Author, How to Write Clearly
“This book is a delight. So well written and so useful for anyone who ever has to write. The perfect mix of aesthetic and usability! You’ll keep returning again and again. Top stuff.”
Kevin Chesters, Author, The Creative Nudge
“This book is clear, intuitive and fun. But that’s not what I’m interested in. I’m a copywriter, so when I need to double check a ‘confusable’, time is money. So I tested it, and found it to be more than twice as quick as Googling. The conclusion – I’m keeping this book on my desk at all times.”
Matt Phil Carver, Freelance Copywriter
With 600 commonly confused words in 300+ indispensable, fun and gorgeous pages, The Little Book of Confusables is the desktop essential you never knew you needed.This FUN guide to the spellings EVEN WRITERS GET WRONG helps you supercharge your vocabulary and avoid embarrassing mistakes.
What trips you up? PRACTICE/PRACTISE, AFFECT/EFFECT, ELICIT/ILLICIT, COMPLIMENT/COMPLEMENT, HOARD/HORDE?
Using the wrong word can completely change your message – and lead to embarrassing mistakes!
★ BALD men aren’t always BOLD.
★ DISEASED may be bad, but DECEASED is a whole lot worse.
★ Dramatic CORDS require the fashion police.
★ And heaven forbid you ask someone to ‘BARE with me’ – unless you’re a fan of getting naked with strangers.
Loved by language professionals, business owners, marketing departments, crossword lovers and students, this brilliant bestselling book will help you write with confidence and avoid embarrassing mistakes.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING"Brilliant! The perfect companion for anyone who ever has to write anything!"
Louisa Chudley, Founder, Spark Social
“What a clever, useful, nifty book! Just wonderful!”
Tom Read Wilson, TV Presenter and Author
“This book is amazing – no matter how many years you’ve been writing and no matter how much of a grammar nerd you are. It’s one of those books you’ll keep next to your computer at all times.”
Anna Gunning, Director, Gunning Marketing
I’ve been working with words for 20+ years and I still get plenty of these mixed up. With this great little book on my desk, everything is clear!
Tom Albrighton, Author, How to Write Clearly
“This book is a delight. So well written and so useful for anyone who ever has to write. The perfect mix of aesthetic and usability! You’ll keep returning again and again. Top stuff.”
Kevin Chesters, Author, The Creative Nudge
“This book is clear, intuitive and fun. But that’s not what I’m interested in. I’m a copywriter, so when I need to double check a ‘confusable’, time is money. So I tested it, and found it to be more than twice as quick as Googling. The conclusion – I’m keeping this book on my desk at all times.”
Matt Phil Carver, Freelance Copywriter
335 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 18, 2022
1 person is currently reading
16 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Townsend
2 books6 followersSarah Townsend has spent 20+ years as a freelance copywriter, and has worked with words her entire career. She has two well-behaved children and two badly behaved cats, and lives in Gloucestershire, England.
Aside from The Little Book of Confusables, Survival Skills for Freelancers and monthly Clever Copy Club updates, Sarah does most of her writing for purpose-led businesses who want brilliant websites to help them stand out from the crowd.
As a speaker at events and conferences, Sarah provides practical advice on copywriting, and shares real-life experience on the mindset needed for self-employed success and confidence.
In her spare time, she loves live music, long walks in the countryside and photography, and is a self-confessed language nerd and movie geek. She dislikes queues, coriander, and writing about herself in the third person.
Stay in touch by joining Sarah's thriving Clever Copy Club community at https://www.sarahtownsendeditorial.co...
Aside from The Little Book of Confusables, Survival Skills for Freelancers and monthly Clever Copy Club updates, Sarah does most of her writing for purpose-led businesses who want brilliant websites to help them stand out from the crowd.
As a speaker at events and conferences, Sarah provides practical advice on copywriting, and shares real-life experience on the mindset needed for self-employed success and confidence.
In her spare time, she loves live music, long walks in the countryside and photography, and is a self-confessed language nerd and movie geek. She dislikes queues, coriander, and writing about herself in the third person.
Stay in touch by joining Sarah's thriving Clever Copy Club community at https://www.sarahtownsendeditorial.co...
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 13, 2022
This is a funny book about confusing words and it’s one of those books that will stick with you because the learning is so deftly handled. I genuinely get the difference between effect and affect and between principle and principal but I also get things I didn’t realise I didn’t understand. The definitions are silly and memorable and I will go back to this book just to remind myself of some of the differences - venomous/poisonous, marinade/marinate… but I’ll also go back to it for a giggle. Using sci fi, computer games, rappers… whatever is needed to help you avoid being an escape goat, Ms Townsend entertains while making a point.
Recommended if you love words or as a gift for someone who does.
Recommended if you love words or as a gift for someone who does.
September 5, 2022
I think of myself of being quite a literate, grammatically correct kind-a-gal and have always prided myself on my ability to use words pretty well.
And then I read this book.
Now, I can confess, that even those of us who think themselves ridiculously smart and would go as far to say they have an air of smugness about it (i.e. me) need a copy of this book on their desk. Everyone, no matter how literate or grammatically savvy we believe ourselves to be, needs this book.
(Having said that, I now need to purchase another copy, as my 9-year-old nephew has stolen mine)
And then I read this book.
Now, I can confess, that even those of us who think themselves ridiculously smart and would go as far to say they have an air of smugness about it (i.e. me) need a copy of this book on their desk. Everyone, no matter how literate or grammatically savvy we believe ourselves to be, needs this book.
(Having said that, I now need to purchase another copy, as my 9-year-old nephew has stolen mine)
November 30, 2022
As an editor and proofreader, I knew I need this book for those little moments of confusion. Trust me, us editors and proofreaders get these moments too and often have to look up certain words!
Since the book arrived, it has had pride of place on my desk and is now well-thumbed. The descriptions are straightforward, memorable and funny. I wish I had bought it years ago!
A brilliant resource for anyone who loves words, loves to write, or just wants to know "Is it practice or practise?"
Since the book arrived, it has had pride of place on my desk and is now well-thumbed. The descriptions are straightforward, memorable and funny. I wish I had bought it years ago!
A brilliant resource for anyone who loves words, loves to write, or just wants to know "Is it practice or practise?"
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews