Arrow Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style: The UK Edition

Super helpful

Great read if one is into languages

Mit wunderbar trockenem Humor geschrieben ist für jeden etwas zu Lernen dabei.

I waited a long time to read this book before I finally got my hands on it - a year since it was first published and six months since it was 'translated' from American English to UK English. Yes, translated, because, as the Copy Chief of Random House explains, everything (okay, ALMOST everything) the Americans write, the English write differently. Whether you write books, short stories, blog posts, tweets, emails or anything else, this is the book you need. Dreyer wants you to clean up the way you write and he does so with a hilarious, almost lyrical way, citing relevant examples from popular texts. In addition to helping you tidy up your prose, he takes you through grammar rules that are no longer relevant, punctuation things to do or not to do, and the way to treat numbers and proper nouns. Then there are the words and phrases that are one's treasure and another's trash; that are the confusables, that are the trimmables, and are the miscellany. If I sound like a book's index it is probably because that's how this book's index reads. That's not all, though. There's more - more than going a week without writing 1. very, 2. rather, 3. really, 4. quite, 5. in fact, and the seven more words he lists. If you read only one book this year, let it be this. When you've read it once, read it again. Underline, circle, highlight. Keep it at the office, keep a second copy at home, carry a third on your person. Refer to it every time you write; even something as boring as a work email reminding everyone of the nine a.m. meeting on Monday. Let it be known that no matter what you think, you need this book. Yes, you do.

Once you start reading it, you have an hard time putting it down. Informative and surprisingly entertaining. I would highly recommend it to those interested in improving their writing.