As English has evolved from Latin, Greek, Roman, etc. over centuries, assimilating their usages, there are many asymmetries and paradoxes, which are very interesting to read:
(i) We drive in a parkway and park in a driveway. (ii) When we transport something by car, it is called shipment, but when we transport something by ship, it is called cargo. (iii) We call it newsprint when it contains no printing, but when we put print on it, we call it newspaper.
The book presents a large number of such interesting incongruities about English language. There are many striking facts about English:
(i) Rhythm is the only word in English made without using any vowel or y. (ii) Dreamt is the only word in English that ends in mt. (iii) Only one word starts and ends in letters und, underground. (iv) There is a sentence that uses seven identical words in a row and still makes sense: It is true for all that that that that ‘that’ that that refers to is not the same that that that refers to.
The book presents a number of such interesting facts about English.
Some words like disgruntled, nonchalant, nondescript, uncanny, etc. are so much integrated with their prefixes, dis, non, un, etc. that these words are almost non-existent without the respective prefixes.
Some opposite words convey the same meaning. For example loosen and unloosen mean the same, and so do, a slim chance and a fat chance. But, the same word may convey two opposite meanings. For example bound means going towards a destination, or restrained from moving.
Some words though incongruous or contradictory, are yoked together by way of oxymoron such as found missing, good grief, exact estimate, only choice, etc. The book explains many such expressions.
This 2nd edition has three new chapters. One provides valuable material on how to avoid writing pitfalls like unclear pronoun reference, dangling modifier, comma splice, faulty parallelism, etc. The other two bring interesting examples of satire, irony, ridicule, sarcasm, and forms of wit and its applications like repartee and pun. Three other chapters have been revised, adding spicy examples from humour, and figures of speech.
Important expressions like anagrams, malapropisms, mondegreens, contronyms, homonyms, heteronyms, and palindromes have also been explained.
The text is rich with examples from Shakespeare, Shaw, Twain, Lawrence, Austen, Wordsworth, Keats, Frost, Eliot, Lamb, Donne, Pope, and Kipling, among many others. There are examples from Twain’s wit, Churchill’s repartee, and Parker’s humour.
The book is designed to help the readers develop an in-depth understanding of various aspects of English language and linguistics.
D.S. Paul, M.A. English, has served as Lecturer in English in two colleges under Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, and as guest faculty in institutes in New Delhi. The books written by him include Word Power Made Easy: A Treatise…; Advanced English Grammar; Advanced Writing Skills; and Mastering English. He has also edited a number of books and articles. Presently, he is working as Chief Editor in Atlantic Publishers and Distributors (P) Ltd., New Delhi.
