What is the title of the book, reviewed in the last week or so in the
newspaper (probably New York Times) that is a compendium of commonly
misused words. I remember that the article also mentioned Eats Shoots
& Leaves as a work of similar nature. Thanks.

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Request for Question Clarification by rainbow-ga on 08 Oct 2004 15:02 PDT

Hi chriso_312,

I checked the New York Times and wasn't able to find anything about
this book. Can you tell us which other newspaper(s) the article may
have possibly been in?
And other details you can remember about the article will help.

Thanks,
Rainbow

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Clarification of Question by chriso_312-ga on 08 Oct 2004 18:53 PDT

Perhaps the Wall St. Journal? Or --maybe-- the San Francisco Chronicle.....

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Request for Question Clarification by rainbow-ga on 09 Oct 2004 00:30 PDT

Hi chriso_312,

I haven't located the article which describes this book, however I
found a book which might be the one you are looking for:

Words You Thought You Knew: 1001 Commonly Misused and Misunderstood
Words and Phrases
by Jenna Glatzer 

Book Description
"Nothing makes a person appear more ridiculous than incorrectly using
a word in conversation or writing?and having the listener or reader
pick up on it.
Words You Thought You Knew . . . features words and phrases people
hear and use every day?often incorrectly. Is it "could care less" or
"couldn?t care less"? What is the difference between "allude" and
"elude"? Is it "toe the line" or "tow the line"?

Forget six-syllable words found only on college entrance exams that
people never use! Writer Jenna Glatzer takes a humorous approach to
help readers avoid verbal slipups by featuring succinct definitions
and sentence examples of common but troublesome words. This unique
collection also includes a fun quiz to test readers? mastery of the
words they thought they knew!"

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1580629415/

Waiting to hear your views.

Best regards,
Rainbow

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Request for Question Clarification by palitoy-ga on 09 Oct 2004 11:06 PDT

Hello chriso_312-ga

I too could not find the article you mentioned but perhaps it is one
of these books:

Troublesome Words by Bill Bryson
"A revised edition of the dictionary that provides a straightforward
guide to the pitfalls and hotly disputed issues in written English.
The entries are discussed with wit and common sense, and illustrated
with examples of questionable usage taken from leading British and
American newspapers, plus occasional references to masters of the
language such as Samuel Johnson and Shakespeare. A glossary of
grammatical terms is included and there is an appendix on
punctuation."
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0141001356/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0767910427/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0140266402/

Accomodating Brocolli in the Cemetary by Vivian Cook
"A delightfully eclectic manual that gently guides the reader through
the often infuriating vagaries of an evolving language."
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1861976232/

Let me know if any of these are the correct ones...

I hope "compendium" ("a short, complete summary; an abstract") is on
the list.  It is often used as if it meant a voluminous compilation. 
That's on my list of words that mean one thing but sound as if they
really ought to mean something else.  Here's another:  fulsome.  And
another:  enormity.  And one more, for good measure:  meretricious.

I'd like to see that compilation too.

Archae0pteryx

Thanks, ArchaeOpteryx, for the incentive to break out my dictionary!
lol Another one I'd add to the list of
sounds-like-it-should-mean-something-else: "condone." My mind always
equates "condone" with "condemn," while the real meaning is pretty
much the opposite.

As for the book you're thinking of, chriso_312, could it be The
Dimwit's Dictionary by Robert Hartwell Fiske? A new edition was
recently released and is getting a fair amount of press. It refers
more to cliches and overused words than word misuse, but thought I'd
suggest it just in case. Here's a brief introduction to the book:

"The Dimwit's Dictionary is a compilation of thousands of
dimwitticisms (clichés, colloquialisms, idioms, and the like) that
people speak and write excessively. Whereas a witticism is a clever
remark or phrase -- indeed, the height of expression -- a
'dimwitticism' is the converse; it is a commonplace remark or phrase.
Dimwitticisms are worn-out words and phrases; they are expressions
that dull our reason and dim our insight, formulas that we rely on
when we are too lazy to express what we think or even to discover how
we feel."

Let me know if this hits the nail on the head!

Emjay-ga