Modern American Usage, Third Edition

We were talking about reference books earlier in the program, the ones that we would recommend to somebody to buy for a student or a child or for themselves, right?

Mm—

And I was thinking sometimes we get a little stuck in our ways, meaning we like to think of ourselves as being currently up to date with all the latest language information.

And really what we’re doing kind of is seeking out information that already supports our points of view, right?

All right, busted.

Right, we do that.

We do. If somebody says, you know, what’s the deal with hopefully or what’s the deal with irregardless, we’ve got some pat set answers.

And they tend to conform to the same kind of points of view every time.

So I was thinking one of the ways in which I try to balance this out, I buy multiple dictionaries.

I use multiple dictionaries for one thing.

So I’m getting different perspectives because they’re not the same.

Dictionaries are not interchangeable.

But the other way that I do this is to find some opposition.

I mean, you do that for me, right?

You and I kind of oppose each other and provide alternate points of view.

But the other way that I do that is with Brian Garner’s Modern American Usage.

And he has just released a third edition of this great book.

And now the reason that he’s my opposition is he’s a highly conservative usage expert.

That’s not a political opinion.

That’s a professional opinion.

He’s about keeping language more or less in a stable form so that it doesn’t change too rapidly.

And that communication is increased because we’re not taking liberties with the way we express ourselves.

And he, of course, in his book, gives short shrift to slang and dialect and informal speech in general.

And I think that’s a mistake.

But you know what?

You’ve heard me cite him again and again on this program.

It’s because I know that I can trust Brian Garner to be consistent.

I know that I can trust him to back up what he’s talking about.

He’s not talking out of his hand.

I mean, here’s the man who is also the editor of Black’s Law Dictionary.

He understands subtlety. He understands getting to the bottom of something with evidence and proving it.

And so when he has an opinion, even though maybe I think he’s considered the wrong evidence or maybe I think he’s ill considered the evidence, he at least has got some kind of substantiation behind it.

And so I’ve got this brand new pristine copy of the third edition of Brian Garner’s Modern American Usage, and it’s fantastic.

It really is stupendous.

And not because he agrees with me.

There’s something on every page I’m like, well, that’s not true or that’s wrong.

But that’s beside the point.

He’s not a self-appointed expert.

He is an expert.

So in any case, I was just saying, thinking along those lines and thinking when people ask me, what do I recommend as far as usage goes?

Brian Garner’s Modern American Usage is one of those books that I recommend.

It’s great.

And that’s the third edition, right?

That’s right.

I have to check it out.

Well, if you have a question about language, give us a call.

The number is 1-877-929-9673 or send us an email.

That address is words@waywordradio.org.