   a dictionary of modern english usage (1926), by henry watson fowler (1858â1933), is a style guide to british english usage, pronunciation, and writing. ranging from plurals and literary technique to the distinctions among like words (homonyms, synonyms, etc.), to the use of foreign terms, it became the standard for most style guides that followed; thus, the 1926 first edition remains in print despite the existence of the 1965 second edition, and the 1996 and 2004 printings of the third edition, which was mostly rewritten as a usage dictionary incorporating corpus linguistics data.third edition preface, page xi a dictionary of modern english usage is informally known as fowlerâs modern english usage, fowler, and fowlerâs. ==linguistic approach== in a dictionary of modern english usage, henry w. fowlerâs general approach encourages a direct, vigorous writing style, and opposes all artificiality, by firmly advising against convoluted sentence construction, the use of foreign words and phrases, and the use of archaisms. he opposed pedantry, and ridiculed artificial grammar rules unwarranted by natural english usage, such as bans on split infinitives and on ending a sentence with a preposition; rules on the placement of the word only; and rules distinguishing between which and that. he classified and condemned every clichÃ©, in the course of which he coined and popularised the terms battered ornament, wardour street, vogue words, and worn-out humour, while defending useful distinctions between words whose meanings were coalescing in practice, thereby guiding the speaker and the writer away from illogical sentence construction, and the misuse of words. in the entries "pedantic humour" and "polysyllabic humour" fowler mocked the use of arcane words (archaisms) and the use of long words. ==quotations== widely and often cited, a dictionary of modern english usage is renowned for its witty passages, such as: ; didacticism : the speaker who has discovered that juan and quixote are not pronounced in spain as he used to pronounce them as a boy is not content to keep so important a piece of information to himself; he must have the rest of us call them hwan and keehotay; at any rate he will give us the chance of mending our ignorant ways by doing so.a dictionary of modern usage, second edition, 1965. h.w. fowler. oxford university press:new york, oxford. p. 129. ; french words : display of superior
1926_books