ISBN: 9780199229697 - The Fight for English: How Language Pundits Ate, Shot, and Left (16 results)

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Lynne Truss's 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves' injected new life into the long-standing arguments over rights and wrongs in English usage. Now David Crystal brings together his own distinctive style and unique expertise to provide the first thorough-going assessment of the ongoing debate. With a lively, humorous, and accessible approach, Crystal charts the battles past and present, illustrating the characters and attitudes involved from a wide range of written sources. He combines a chronological survey of key influences in the area of usage with discussion of particular themes such as punctuation, spelling, and pronunciation. And he looks ahead to the future in the context of recent education policy shifts. A positive and compelling case is made for variation in usage of English based on appropriateness of situation, arguing that 'zero tolerance' in relation to language is a profoundly flawed approach. Crystal offers an original and authoritative counter-argument to the prescriptivist agenda that has been expounded in many accounts of English usage over the years. The debate has continued with the recent publication of John Humphrys' 'Beyond Words', and 'The Fight for English' is the book that everyone concerned with English usage should read.…

Condition: As New. Like New condition. A near perfect copy that may have very minor cosmetic defects.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority.

Condition: Very Good. Pages intact with possible writing/highlighting. Binding strong with minor wear. Dust jackets/supplements may not be included. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.

Condition: Good. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The Fight for English: How language pundits ate, shot, and left This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Lynne Truss's 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves' injected new life into the long-standing arguments over rights and wrongs in English usage. Now David Crystal brings together his own distinctive style and unique expertise to provide the first thorough-going assessment of the ongoing debate. With a lively, humorous, and accessible approach, Crystal charts the battles past and present, illustrating the characters and attitudes involved from a wide range of written sources. He combines a chronological survey of key influences in the area of usage with discussion of particular themes such as punctuation, spelling, and pronunciation. And he looks ahead to the future in the context of recent education policy shifts. A positive and compelling case is made for variation in usage of English based on appropriateness of situation, arguing that 'zero tolerance' in relation to language is a profoundly flawed approach. Crystal offers an original and authoritative counter-argument to the prescriptivist agenda that has been expounded in many accounts of English usage over the years. The debate has continued with the recent publication of John Humphrys' 'Beyond Words', and 'The Fight for English' is the book that everyone concerned with English usage should read.…

Condition: Good. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.

Condition: Good. Former library copy. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.

Condition: Very Good. Pages intact with possible writing/highlighting. Binding strong with minor wear. Dust jackets/supplements may not be included. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping. …

Softcover. Condition: Good. The fight for english how language pundits ate, shot, and left.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Reprint. 360.0 pages. Text lightly tanned Weve all been taught that this sentence--Driving in from the airport, the flags flapped furiously--is wrong, wrong, wrong. But is it, asks David Crystal. Ever yone knows what this sentence means. No one actually thinks that the flags were driving the car. Is this sentence really incorrect. InThe Fight for English, Cry stal offers a stimulating account of the struggle between various schools of gra mmar to control how we write and speak. Ranging back a thousand years, to the an guished concerns of Aelfric the Grammarian, and illuminating the contributions o f Samuel Johnson, Noah Webster, and many others, the book sheds light on ten cen turies of warfare over spelling, punctuation, pronunciation, and much more. The author takes to task such take-no-prisoners grammarians as the well-known Lynn T russ (whoseEats, Shoots, and Leaveswas a giant bestseller), arguing that we shou ld say no to zero-tolerance prescriptive rules. Indeed, as one of the world's le ading authorities on the English language, Crystal offers an original and author itative counter-argument to the prescriptive agenda. He shows for instance that context is very important, that the dangling participle driving in from the air port is not wrong because the context makes the meaning clear. Moreover, even t he hope for a standard system of spelling is in vain, since approximately 25 per cent of the words in a standard dictionary have more than one spelling (such as dark room and dark-room and darkroom). Hailed inThe New York Times Book Reviewa s fascinating and insightful, often funny,The Fight for Englishis a welcome br eath of fresh air in the often stultifying debate over English usage.…

paperback. Condition: new.

Paperback. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed.