Whatdoyougetwhenyoumixninepartsofspeech,onegreatwriter,andgenerousdashesofinsight,humor,andirreverence?Onephenomenallyentertaininglanguagebook.
Inhiswaggishyetauthoritativebook,BenYagodahasmanagedtoundothedarkworkoflegionsofEnglishteachersandlibrariesofdustygrammartexts.NotsinceSchoolHouseRockhaveadjectives,adverbs,articles,conjunctions,interjections,nouns,prepositions,pronouns,andverbsbeenexploredwithsuchinfectiousexuberance.ReadIfYouCatchanAdjective,KillItand:
LearnhowtowritebetterwithclassicadvicefromwriterssuchasMarkTwain(“Ifyoucatchanadjective,killit”),StephenKing(“Ibelievetheroadtohellispavedwithadverbs”),andGertrudeStein(“Nouns...arecompletelynotinteresting”).
Marvelathowasinglewordcanshiftfromadverb(“Ididokay”),toadjective(“Itwasanokaymovie”),tointerjection(“Okay!”),tonoun(“Igavemyokay”),toverb(“Whookayedthis?”),dependingonitsuse.
Avoidthepretentiousprepositionat,afavoriteofrealestatedevelopers(e.g.“TheShoppesatWhitePlains”).
LaughwhenYagodasayshe“shallcallanyoneadorktotheendofhisdays”whoinsistsonmaintainingthedistinctionbetweenshallandwill.
Read,anddiscoverabookwhosepopculturereferences,humorousasides,andbracingdosesofdiscernmentandcommonsenseconveyYagoda’suniquesenseofthe“beauty,thejoy,theartistry,andthefunoflanguage.”,