London: Guardian Faber Publishing, 2014. — 296 p. — ISBN 978-1783350124.The essential and entertaining guide to grammar. This book is written by an English newspaper editor on the subtle nuances of the English language.David Marsh's lifelong mission has been to create order out of chaos. For four decades, he has worked for newspapers, from the Sun to the Financial Times, from local weeklies that sold a few thousand copies to the Guardian. The chaos might be sloppy syntax, a disregard for grammar or a fundamental misunderstanding of what grammar is. Clear, honest use of English has many enemies: politicians, business and marketing people, local authority and civil service jargonauts, rail companies, estate agents, academics and some journalists. This is the book to help defeat them.He begins by explaining the mechanics of syntax through analysis of pop-song lyrics from the Beatles to De La Soul. With admirable clarity, Marsh goes on to explain the gerund and subjunctive, the difference between comparing to and comparing with, and the correct use of "whom", avoidance of which has given this book its deliberately teeth-grating title. Cleverly, Marsh here inverts the usual reasons for understanding conventions. You need to know the rule for "whom" not because you should use "whom" whenever appropriate (because it will sometimes sound pompous), but because you need absolutely to avoid using "whom" when it should actually be "who", since that will sound both pompous and stupid.Despite the deceptive subtitle, much of the rest of the book is not about grammar at all: it dissolves into an entertaining compendium of usage notes and mini-essays. Lists of common mistakes provide filler, as apparently is inevitable in this kind of book. Marsh touches on rhetorical devices such as antanaclasis and "fronting or topicalisation, a device of which Milton, like Yoda, was fond". There are divertingly knockabout sections on jargon in politics, on the railways, in the NHS, among estate agents and, of course, in newspapers.Introduction: Ballad of a Refuse Disposal Officer
The Wages of Syntax
The Rules Do Not Apply
Whom Do You Love?
Pin the Apostrophe on the Word
Too Marvellous for Words
Words are Stupid, Words are Fun
Pretentious, Moi?
Attack of the Jargonauts
Political Incorrectness Gone Mad
I Fed the Newts Today, Oh Boy
All Your Base Are Belong to Us
Let Your Yeah Be Yeah
Bibliography: My Top 20
Acknowledgements
