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When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It: The Parts of Speech, for Better And/Or Worse (2007)

di Ben Yagoda

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2981287,366 (3.61)13
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.”… (altro)
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» Vedi le 13 citazioni

An interesting examination of parts of speech - not just adjective, as the title says. My favorites sections are about adjectives, adverbs, and conjunctions. The book is full of anecdotes and real-world examples. At times, Yagoda sounds pedantic and certain chapters, especially, pronouns and prepositions are boring. Those monolithic paragraphs (oxymoron) didn't help the cause. ( )
  harishwriter | Oct 12, 2023 |
For anyone who loves the English language or good writing or both this is a brief but essential book. With wry humor the author skewers the abusers of English while providing an important message for those who are able to calm down after each fit of laughter.

In some ways this seems like a high-brow version of Richard Armour, but just not too high. The book covers parts of speech from Adj. to V. and seven others in between. With quips like this - "Every word, when a grammarian knows not what to make of it, he calls an adverb." - from the Roman Servius. Or there are examples of words that go rogue like prepositions that end up being adverbs or phrasal verbs. For what it's worth I enjoyed the ride and survived to, hopefully, use adjectives and other words with a bit more circumspection than I may have in the past. ( )
  jwhenderson | Mar 10, 2022 |
Not bad for an American...I found this book interesting. I learnt a few things, I had a bit of a giggle, and at times I wanted to throw my ereader out of the window. Read if you enjoy English. ( )
  KatiaMDavis | Dec 19, 2017 |
This is a lot more entertaining than a book on parts of speech ought to be. Yagoda includes enough pop-culture references (many are from The Simpsons), literary quips, and bad jokes (including the best Tom Swiftie of all time: "'I manufacture tabletops for shops,' Tom said counterproductively") to keep the material from being dry and dull. He manages to point out sins of amateur writing (over-reliance on adjectives and adverbs, for starters) that some readers (myself included... gulp) will recognize in themselves, without being a jerk about it. He's friendly and accessible, conversational even. I think I may have had some conversations on these topics, so I'm more "primed" for this than most people I know.

(I'll probably be adding this to the Potential Summer Reading for High Schoolers list I'm compiling.) ( )
  librarybrandy | Mar 29, 2013 |
Book on language that reads with a begining middle then end. Very readable and enjoyable. ( )
  gazzy | Apr 2, 2009 |
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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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