Oxford A-Z of English Usage

Book excerpt: If you need a quick and effective guide to correct English, then Oxford A-Z of English Usage is just what you are looking for, containing a gold mine of useful advice on a wide array of common writing and speaking problems. Based on Oxford's world-renowned dictionary research program and packed with vivid examples of real usage (and misusage) from contemporary sources, this guide provides essential information on the kind of issues writers face every day. Readers will find more than 600 entries arranged in alphabetical order, shedding light on common issues of uncertainty and confusion (affect / effect; compliment / complement; loath / loathe), on questions of punctuation and pronunciation, on grammatical terms, and much more. In addition, there are more than 20 special feature articles on specific topics such as abbreviation, euphemism, hyphenation, and folk etymology.