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How to Tell Fate from Destiny

其他書名	And Other Skillful Word Distinctions
出版	Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018-10-23
主題	Reference / Thesauri
ISBN	13285832369781328583239
URL	http://books.google.com.hk/books?id=FrHqDwAAQBAJ&hl=&source=gbs_api
EBook	SAMPLE

註釋“In this part-thesaurus, part-hilarious manual of style, Elster breaks down the most common mistakes of the English language.”—Booklist

If you have trouble distinguishing the verbs imitate and emulate, the relative pronouns that and which, or the adjectives pliant, pliable, and supple, never fear—How to Tell Fate from Destiny is here to help! With more than 500 headwords, the book is replete with advice on how to differentiate commonly confused words and steer clear of verbal trouble. Whether you’re a boomer, a Gen-Xer, or a millennial, if you peruse, browse, or even skim these spindrift pages you will (not shall) become versed in the fine art of differentiation. You will learn, for example,

how to tell whether you suffer from pride, vanity, or hubris
how to tell whether you’re contagious or infectious
how to tell if you’re pitiful or pitiable
how to tell if you’re self-centered or self-absorbed
how to live an ethical life in a moral universe

“This appealing book will help readers over countless lexical stumbling blocks, and encourage clearer and more precise speaking and writing.”—Publishers Weekly

“The author of this charming and useful book has made a career out of literary finesse. In his latest effort to ‘clarify the mind and general discourse,’ the ‘professional distinctioneer’ offers witty, wise advice on the right way to deploy some of the English language’s trickiest words, from a and an to zero, zeros, zeroes.”—Yale Alumni Magazine