Patricia T. O’Conner - Woe Is I: The Grammarphobe’s Guide to Better English in Plain English

Patricia T. OConner, a former editor at The New York Times Book Review, has written for many magazines and newspapers, and is a popular blogger and radio commentator. She is the author of four other books on language and writing, Words Fail Me, Woe Is I Jr., and, with Stewart Kellerman, You Send Me and Origins of the Specious: Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language.

This work is a dream come true.... Darn, this is fun... a delightful romp through the intricacies of our language.

Library Journal

Woe Is I covers all those tricky grammar issues that can make or break your writing.

Write101.com

Wow! Who would have thought that you could have such a delicious time with a grammar book? Woe Is I is great fun.

Susan Isaacs

When we all come to our senses and start recognizing truly important deeds, Patricia OConner will get a tickertape parade and a big, shiny medal.... This former New York Times Book Review editor has done more to keep the streets safe from bad grammar than just about anyone else, and we all owe her.

The Seattle Times

Funny, irreverent, and authoritative without being stuffy... Woe Is I is a charming, practical little book that deserves a spot on your shelf right next to Strunk & White.

The Charlotte Observer

Hallelujah! This book works.

The Des Moines Register

The best thing to happen to grammar since Strunk and White.

Molly Ivins

An invigorating and entertaining dissection of our ever-evolving language.... OConner... gleefully eviscerates poor sentence construction and dangling participles, soothes verb tension and debunks the frequently intimidating semicolon with finesse. Tempered with a heavy dose of wit... OConners lively treatise is as vital as a dictionary for those who wish to be taken seriously in speech, in print or on Facebook.

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

If I found a man with the appeal of Woe Is I, I would be married before you could say Winston tastes good like a cigarette shouldthat clinker that used to give English teachers fits.

Cleveland Plain Dealer

A fun read as well as a thorough reference guide.

Writers Digest

Ms. OConner has the gift.

The Dallas Morning News

Its a gem.

The Arizona Republic

It is the best primer on English usage to come along since Strunk and Whites The Elements of Style.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Covers the conventional wisdom... at a merry skip rather than a resolute march.

The Boston Globe

ALSO BY PATRICIA T. OCONNER

Words Fail Me: What Everyone Who Writes Should Know About Writing

You Send Me: Getting It Right When You Write Online

(with Stewart Kellerman)

Woe Is I Jr.: The Younger Grammarphobes Guide to Better English in Plain English

Origins of the Specious: Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language

(with Stewart Kellerman)

RIVERHEAD BOOKS

An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

penguinrandomhouse.com

Copyright 1996, 2003, 2009, 2019 by Patricia T. OConner and Stewart Kellerman

Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: OConner, Patricia T., author.

Title: Woe is I : the grammarphobes guide to better English in plain English / Patricia T. OConner.

Description: Fourth Edition. | New York : Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2019 | First Riverhead hardcover edition: September 2009T.p. verso. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018014756 | ISBN 9780525533054 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9780525533061 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: English languageGrammarHandbooks, manuals, etc. | English languageUsageHandbooks, manuals, etc.

Classification: LCC PE1112 .O28 2019 | DDC 428.2dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018014756

p. cm.

G. P. Putnams Sons hardcover edition: September 1996

First Riverhead hardcover edition: July 2003

Riverhead hardcover (Third edition): September 2009

First Riverhead trade paperback edition: July 2010

Riverhead trade paperback (Fourth edition): February 2019

While the author has made every effort to provide accurate internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after publication. Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

Version_1

For Stewart

CONTENTS

PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION

Some books cant sit still. They get fidgety and restless, mumbling to themselves and elbowing their authors in the ribs. Its that time again, they say. I need some attention here.

Books about English grammar and usage are especially prone to this kind of behavior. Theyre never content with the status quo. Thats because English is not a stay-put language. Its always changingexpanding here, shrinking there, trying on new things, casting off old ones. People no longer say things like Forsooth, methinks that grog hath given me the flux! No, time doesnt stand still and neither does language.

So books about English need to change along with the language and those who use it. Welcome to the fourth edition of Woe Is I.

Whats new? Most of the changes are about individual words and how theyre used. New spellings, pronunciations, and meanings develop over time, and while many of these dont stick around, some become standard English. This is why your moms dictionary, no matter how fat and impressive-looking, is not an adequate guide to standard English today. And this is why I periodically take a fresh look at what better English is and isnt.

The book has been updated from cover to cover, but dont expect a lot of earthshaking changes in grammar, the foundation of our language. We dont ditch the fundamentals of grammar and start over every day, or even every generation. The things that make English seem so changeable have more to do with vocabulary and how its used than with the underlying grammar.

However, there are occasional shifts in whats considered grammatically correct, and those are reflected here too. One example is the use of they, them, and their for an unknown somebody-or-other, as in Somebody forgot their umbrellaonce shunned but now acceptable. Another has to do with which versus that. Then theres the use of taller