Marion Street Press, Inc. reviews of The Dictionary of Concise Writing

William Safire, On Language

The New York Times Magazine

December 8, 2002

Recommended both The Dictionary of Concise Writing and The Dimwit's Dictionary as Gifts o' Gab!

From The Boston Globe

By Jan Freeman, in December 8, 2002, The Word column, titled "Gifts for Wordies"

"...there's something seductive about Dimwits' sheer irrational exuberance."

From The Chicago-Sun Times

By Zay Smith

...Words on words

*QT Grammar R Us Book-of-the-Month Club November Selection:

The Dictionary of Concise Writing: 10,000 Alternatives to Windy Phrases (Marion Street Press).

*QT Grammar R Us Book-of-the-Month Club November Alternate:

The Dimwit's Dictionary: 5,000 Overused Words and Phrases and Alternatives to Them (Marion Street Press).

These are two of the better usage books (published in Oak Park and available on amazon.com) to come down the road, which is an overused phrase, come to think of it, in the past few years, which, come to think of it, is a wordy phrase, and, all right, QT will have to go back and study these books some more, or is the "some" really necessary in this sentence?

From The Dallas Morning News

By Mike Maza

On his Web site (www.vocabula .com) and in books, Mr. Fiske "battles nonstandard, careless English and embraces clear, expressive English." So he's heroic to purists but can seem cranky to those who believe that the only standard language is a dead language. Persnickety, yes – but also entertaining: "Dis is a prefix aspiring to be a word," he sniffs at the street-hardened offspring of "disrespect." Of "devastate," he writes: "Rarely are we disconsolate , rarely are we flustered. If only we would use more measured terms, we might feel less weak and woundable." All readers will cheer his trouncing of cliché, redundancy and windy generality. But his labels for each offense – "grammatical gimmick," "popular prescription," "withered word," "suspect superlative," "moribund metaphor" – may activate alliteration aggravation.

From Heartland Reviews

By Bob Spear

This book is a cure all (thank goodness that phrase is OK) for trite writing. The author first defines different levels of poor writing, giving examples and then proceeds to the dictionary portion. If you're having problems being accepted as a writer, it may be because you use too many trite words and phrases. This reference is the remedy to that problem. To use a trite phrase, when in doubt, whip it out (the dictionary, that is). We rated it five hearts.

By Bill Kent, award-winning journalist, author of the six books, including the novel Street Money from St. Martin's Press

Though I've been writing professionally for more than twenty-five years, I'm having fun reading random entries in The Dimwit's Dictionary: 5,000 Overused Words and Phrases and Alternatives to Them, and its companion volume, The Dictionary of Concise Writing: 10,000 Alternatives to Wordy Prhrases, because I need the occasional expert opinion (suspect superlative!) because my prose can suddenly and without warning (a wrteched redundancy!) go overboard (a moribund metaphor!) and basically (overworked word!) commit egregious errors (an inescapable pair!) and even lapse into what is really and truly (nfantile phrase!) as dead as a dodo (insipid simile!).

From MyShelf.com

By Nancy Mehl

Reviewing THE DIMWIT'S DICTIONARY is somewhat like walking into a mine field with magnets strapped to your body - you know you're just asking for trouble. But, nothing ventured, nothing gained…wait a minute, I'm already on the wrong track. Wow, how did I get into this?

The phrases above are examples of a popular prescription, a moribund metaphor, and a plebeian sentiment. Robert Harwell Fiske has gathered together examples of words and phrases that are universal favorites but have been used and overused until they have become ineffective in their application. Fiske encourages readers to use creativity in their language, throwing out the lazy expressions that have worked their way into our conversations - and our writing.

THE DIMWIT'S DICTIONARY points out the following troublesome categories: foreign phrases, grammatical gimmicks, ineffectual phrases, inescapable pairs, infantile phrases, moribund metaphors, overworked words, plebeian sentiments, popular prescriptions, quack equations, suspect superlatives, torpid terms, withered words, and wretched redundancies. Each category is explained, and offending words and phrases are listed in alphabetical order, making them easy to find. The problem is that most of them are familiar…too familiar.

Mr. Fiske has put together a fun and informative guide to "dimwittedness," a book that everyone who writes or talks should keep where it can be easily reached. The dimwits of the world thank you, Mr. Fiske! (Not that I know any…really and truly I don't!)

By Denise Clark, author

This delightfully clever though extremely helpful book opens with a section called ‘Dimwitticisms’ – or in the case of Chapter One, ‘Expressions That Dull Our Reason and Dim Our Insight’ – that immediately entices further perusing until the reader may realize they are reading every page, and though, while most of books of this type are to be thumbed through, this particular reader had trouble putting it down.

Topics’ ranging from ‘Plebeian Sentiments’ to ‘Wretched Redundancies’ places this reference well beyond usual. Learning the difference between a moribund metaphor and an inescapable pair has never held such enjoyment. Impressively organized and detailed to the nth degree (sorry, Mr. Fiske, I believe that was a moribund no-no), this compilation of wisdom is indispensable to lovers and writers of the English language. There is no word to describe… oops that was a plebeian sentiment, so let me rephrase that. The Dimwit’s Dictionary is a great reference book. English majors and aspiring writers take note; you must have this on your reference shelf! You won’t regret it.

Reviews for The Dimwit's Dictionary