''Garner's Modern English Usage'' (''GMEU''), written by Bryan A. Garner and published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, is a

usage dictionary A language-for-specific-purposes dictionary (LSP dictionary) is a reference work which defines the specialised vocabulary used by experts within a particular field, for example, architecture. The discipline that deals with these dictionaries is ...

and

style guide A style guide or manual of style is a set of standards for the writing, formatting, and design of documents. It is often called a style sheet, although that term also has multiple other meanings. The standards can be applied either for gene ...

(or '

prescriptive Linguistic prescription, or prescriptive grammar, is the establishment of rules defining preferred usage of language. These rules may address such linguistic aspects as spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary, syntax, and semantics. Sometimes infor ...

dictionary') for contemporary Modern English. It was first published in 1998 as ''A Dictionary of Modern American Usage'', with a focus on

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lan ...

, which it retained for the next two editions as ''Garner's Modern American Usage'' (''GMAU''). It was expanded to cover English more broadly in the 2016 fourth edition, under the present title. The work covers issues of usage, pronunciation, and style, from distinctions among commonly confused words and phrases to notes on how to prevent verbosity and obscurity. In addition, it contains essays about the English language. An abridged version of the first edition was also published as ''The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style'' in 2000.

Editions

The first edition was published in 1998 as ''A Dictionary of Modern American Usage'', and released in an abridged, paperback edition in 2000 as ''The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style''. In 2003, the second full edition was published under the title ''Garner's Modern American Usage'', with one-third more content than the original edition. A third edition was published under that title in August 2009. An updated edition covering

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and other

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was released in April 2016 under the title ''Garner's Modern English Usage''. It was notable for using the

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to compare some 2,300 ratios of standard versus variant forms of usages, e.g., "Current ratio (''harked back'' vs. ''harped back''): 170:1" (Garner 2016, p. 452). This was followed by something of a companion volume, ''The Chicago Guide to Grammar, Usage, and Punctuation'' (

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including ''The Chicago Manual of Style'', ...

, May 2016), Garner's major expansion of his chapter on the topic in the last several editions of ''

The Chicago Manual of Style ''The Chicago Manual of Style'' (abbreviated in writing as ''CMOS'' or ''CMS'', or sometimes as ''Chicago'') is a style guide for American English published since 1906 by the University of Chicago Press. Its 17 editions have prescribed writi ...

''.

Reception

Novelist

David Foster Wallace David Foster Wallace (February 21, 1962 – September 12, 2008) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and university professor of English and creative writing. Wallace is widely known for his 1996 novel '' Infinite Jest'', whi ...

said, "The fact of the matter is that Garner's dictionary is extremely good .... Its format ... includes entries on individual words and phrases and expostulative small-cap ." (An unabridged, much lengthier version of Wallace's essay, "Authority and American Usage", appeared in a 2005 anthology of essays entitled ''

Consider the Lobster ''Consider the Lobster and Other Essays'' (2005) is a collection of essays by novelist David Foster Wallace. It is also the title of one of the essays, which was published in ''Gourmet'' magazine in 2004. The title alludes to '' Consider the Oyst ...

''.) He commended Garner's stance on the linguistic descriptivism versus prescriptivism issue that lexicographers (dictionary writers) face. Garner's dictionary is prescriptive in aiming to uphold good English usage, but also concedes to variant forms and usage errors that are so widespread that there is no lexicographical hope of changing them. Garrison Keillor has called ''Garner's Modern American Usage'' one of the five most influential books in his library. Other critics, including John Simon,

William Safire William Lewis Safire (; Safir; December 17, 1929 – September 27, 2009Safire, William (1986). ''Take My Word for It: More on Language.'' Times Books. . p. 185.) was an American author, columnist, journalist, and presidential speechwriter. He w ...

, Bill Walsh, and

Barbara Wallraff Barbara may refer to: People * Barbara (given name) * Barbara (painter) (1915–2002), pseudonym of Olga Biglieri, Italian futurist painter * Barbara (singer) (1930–1997), French singer * Barbara Popović (born 2000), also known mononymously as ...

, have praised the book's clear, simple, and nuanced guidance.

Michael Quinion Michael Quinion (born c. 1943) is a British etymologist and writer. He ran World Wide Words, a website devoted to linguistics. He graduated from Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he studied physical sciences and after which he joined BBC radio as a ...

of WorldWideWords.org said in his review that usage guides "row a course against the current of modern lexicography and linguistics", which are descriptive fields that often fail to "meet the day-to-day needs of those users of English who want to speak and write in a way that is acceptable to educated opinion." Quinion opined that Garner lays down rules without falling victim to "worn-out shibboleths or language superstitions".

References

Similar works

* '' Modern American Usage'' by

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'' by Pam Peters * ''The Most Common Errors in English Usage and How to Avoid Them'' by Elaine Bender. * ''When Bad Grammar Happens to Good People: How to Avoid Common Errors in English'' by Ann Batko * ''Plain Style'' by Christopher Lasch * '' Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage'' by Merriam-Webster * ''Usage and Abusage'' by Eric Partridge * ''The New Fowler's Modern English Usage'' by

R. W. Burchfield Robert William Burchfield CNZM, CBE (27 January 1923 – 5 July 2004) was a lexicographer, scholar, and writer, who edited the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' for thirty years to 1986, and was chief editor from 1971. Education and career Born in W ...

* ''The King's English'' by H. W. Fowler and F. G. Fowler * ''The Standard of Usage in English'' by Thomas R. Lounsbury * ''Writer's Guide and Index to English'' by Porter G. Perrin * ''Dos, Don'ts & Maybes of English Usage'' by Theodore M. Bernstein * ''On Writing Well'' by William Zinsser * ''How to Be Brief: An Index to Simple Writing'' by Rudolf Flesch. {{DEFAULTSORT:Garner's Modern American Usage 1998 non-fiction books Style guides for American English Plain English