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What do you get when you mix nine parts of speech, one great writer, and generous dashes of insight, humor, and irreverence? One phenomenally entertaining language book.In his waggish yet authoritative book, Ben Yagoda has managed to undo the dark work of legions of English teachers and libraries of dusty grammar texts. Not since School House Rock have adjectives, adverbs, articles, conjunctions, interjections, nouns, prepositions, pronouns, and verbs been explored with such infectious exuberance. Read If You Catch an Adjective, Kill It and:Learn how to write better with classic advice from writers such as Mark Twain ("If you catch an adjective, kill it"), Stephen King ("I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs"), and Gertrude Stein ("Nouns . . . are completely not interesting"). Marvel at how a single word can shift from adverb ("I did okay"), to adjective ("It was an okay movie"), to interjection ("Okay!"), to noun ("I gave my okay"), to verb ("Who okayed this?"), depending on its use. Avoid the pretentious preposition at, a favorite of real estate developers (e.g., "The Shoppes at White Plains"). Laugh when Yagoda says he "shall call anyone a dork to the end of his days" who insists on maintaining the distinction between shall and will. Read, and discover a book whose pop culture references, humorous asides, and bracing doses of discernment and common sense convey Yagoda's unique sense of the "beauty, the joy, the artistry, and the fun of language."
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Previews available in: English
Showing 3 featured editions. View all 3 editions?
Edition | Availability |
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1
When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It
2008, Broadway Books
E-book
in English
0767929314 9780767929318
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2
When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It: The Parts of Speech, for Better And/Or Worse
December 26, 2007, Broadway Books
Paperback
in English
0767920783 9780767920780
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3
When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It: The Parts of Speech, for Better And/Or Worse
February 13, 2007, Broadway
Hardcover
in English
- 1 edition
0767920775 9780767920773
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