The Dirty Thirty

The Dirty Thirty is a friendly little workbook that will help you learn--and teach--some of the most useful (and most misused) words in our language. Words are like people--they can cause confusion, or bring pleasure. And sometimes the same words can do both. That's especially true of the tricky terms in The Dirty Thirty. We see them misused again and again, even by intelligent people who write and speak well. These words usually come in pairs (like affect-effect, who-whom, and stationery-stationary). They often look and sound a lot alike (capitol-capital), and they may be related in meaning (emigrate-immigrate). So it's no surprise that even professionals sometimes have trouble keeping them straight. This book will show you how. It focuses on words that we most need to know about--the ones that come up fairly often in speech and writing, and that competent users of our language are expected to know. You'll get clear explanations of the differences, and do short practice exercises to help you confirm that you understand and can use the words. And the format of The Dirty Thirty, with its clear explanation and short exercises, makes it an excellent teaching tool.