Eats, Shites & Leaves: Crap English and How to Use It (The Shite series) | 
 enlarge | Author: A. Parody
Publisher: Michael O'Mara
Category: Book
List Price: $9.95
Buy New: $5.21
You Save: $4.74 (48%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 753552
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 160
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.6
ISBN: 1843172747
Dewey Decimal Number: 428.00207
EAN: 9781843172741
ASIN: 1843172747
Publication Date: April 28, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New. Delivery is usually 5 - 8 working days from order, International is by Royal Mail Airmail
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Product Description
Here is the long-awaited antidote to those pedants out there who insist on pointing out every single misuse of both written and spoken English. The English language is an ever-changing and complex thing, and for every English language "stickler" who never misspeaks there is somebody who is bamboozled and befuddled by grammatical trapdoors, puzzled by punctuation, and who spells words with diabolical inaccuracy. Featuring highlights such as ambiguous ads (Why not have the kids shot for Easter, or have a family portrait taken?), dangling modifiers (She slipped on the ice and apparently her legs went in separate directions in early December.), and senseless statements (With half the race gone, there is half the race still to go.), this humorous guide brings to light the prevalence of absent apostrophes, ghastly grammar, suspect sentences, rambling repetitiveness, insane instructions, and quirky quotations in society today.
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| Customer Reviews:
"In The Beginning Was The Word, And The Word Was Aardvark." July 31, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I bought this book on a whim, and found in it several intensely amusing entries on the subject of English errors and misuse diluted with an assortment of lesser material. The book is not organized, so searching is rather futile, while numerous subjects are extensively broken up among numerous pages, a device likely designed to prevent descent into tedium, but that actually annoyed me considerably. Some of the subjects, especially the various sections on spelling and "commonly confused words" were none too enlightening or challenging, while some of the less mundane sections were delightful. I was amused by the sections on long words, especially on p. 28 which defines "pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis" which it claims is the longest word in any English language dictionary. (I am skeptical of that: I believe that numerous chemical names can beat 45 letters, although they would not be found anywhere other than obscure chemistry texts.) I was also pleased to learn the word "zenzizenzizenzic", which means the eighth power of a number.
My favorite parts of the book revolve around famous quotations and malapropisms, of which there are an abundance. Perhaps my favorite is this completely logical, yet difficult to follow quote from former US State Department spokesman Robert McCloskey: "I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant."
The book has its share of gems, but is annoyingly organized, and has a lot of chaff to go with the wheat. Some of the material is not especially entertaining (the section on oxymorons, which should be a goldmine, is especially disappointing) and some is rather juvenile. I read the book in an hour or so: it isn't a difficult read and does provide some levity, but it is decidedly uneven.
 They weren't wrong with that sub-title. October 21, 2006
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
I purchased this book expecting a witty retort against the books it parodies. Instead, it appears to be a collection of every remotely relevant "email forward" that ever existed. These forwards are something I dislike receiving in my inbox, let alone actually paying money for.
In addition to that, there are a number of errors that undermine its entire point - in one spot, it tests the reader's ability to spell the word "calendar", (ignoring that both "calender" and "calendar" are real words), giving multiple-choice-style options. Unfortunately, none of the multiple choice options actually matches the answer given. Considering the sub-title of this book, perhaps this is some level of sincerity that I fail to appreciate.
I made the unfortunate mistake of expecting a large amount of original content that had at least been proofread. Silly me.
 "[...] English" August 1, 2006
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
As someone with a degree in English I found this book very funny. Some of the content really made me think about where he got his examples from. Then I realized people talk and write like that everyday and to the average person it sounds/looks fine. It's nice to know that there are other people out there who are bothered by the use of the English language. It was something to easily read in my spare time that made me laugh and had people around me wondering why.
 A Parody ? July 26, 2005
36 out of 45 found this review helpful
The title of the book (and the authors name viz. A Parody) seems to indicate that it is a spoof on the hugely-popular recent book with a similar name "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" (By Lynn Truss).
The book starts off by saying that it is ok to make grammatical mistakes (something which the Lynn Truss book considers as a blasphemy) but the book is not about bad english or its usage.
I found the book to be about the magic of the English Language. How different things can mean different things in different contexts. The book talks about cliches, maxims, abbreviations, political gaffes, spoonersims. You name it. Like I said, through examples of bad english and bad grammer, the author (is his name actually A. Parody?) shows us the appeal of the English language.
Not to be missed!
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