Writers Reference Books

• Dictionaries & Thesauruses
• Slang and Euphemisms
• Grammar Guides

Dictionaries & Theasuruses

The Bald-Headed Hermit & The Artichoke: An Erotic Thesaurus by A. D. Peterkin
Arsenal Pulp Press (October 1999); ISBN-10: 155152063X

What do the terms "Master of Ceremonies," "Husbandman of Nature," "Old Faithless," and "My Body's Captain" refer to? How about "Cully-Shangy," Hogmagundy," or "Horizontal Refreshment"? Synonyms for these and other phrases can be found in The Bald-Headed Hermit & the Artichoke, a unique guide to the lingo of sex. Extensive historical research conducted by Peterkin led to the compilation of lists of phrases and words referring to all aspects of human sexuality, from breasts and testicles, to fetishes and paraphernalia. In conducting his research, Peterkin discovered that erotic words and phrases in the English-speaking world number well into the thousands; "penis" alone has over 1,500 modern synonyms.

The terms in The Bald-Headed Hermit vary from the poetic and the medical to the macho, derogatory, and obscene; the lists offer varied and "imaginative" interpretations of human sexuality that are at times funny and shocking at others. They also provide unusual insight into how various societies view sexual pleasure.

In addition, the book shows how previously silent sexual communities, including gays & lesbians, the transgendered, and various fetishists and libertines, challenge attitudes towards sexuality and sexual expression, thereby changing the very language of sex.

The Bald-Headed Hermit includes fascinating explanations of sexual terms, as well as historical/archival line drawings illustrating various aspects of sexuality.

"The Erotic Thesaurus is a must for porn writers and journalists. . ."  The National Post (National Post )
Available at: Amazon.com  / Amazon UK

Outbursts!: A Gay and Lesbian Erotic Thesaurus by A.D. Peterkin
Arsenal Pulp Press (November 1, 2003); ISBN-10: 1551521512

Erotic slang words from Great Britain, Canada, the United States, Australia, and other English-speaking nations number well into the tens of thousands. But the history of terms used to describe the sexual activities of gays and lesbians have opposing sources: one, the discreet networks of gay men and lesbians who sought to come up with a new terminology for the pleasures of their secret lives; and the other, those who found gay sexuality repellent, and created phrases that denigrated and insulted its proponents. The result? A coded language, for better or worse, that celebrates sexuality in all its queerness.

A.D. Peterkin shows how euphemism, camp humor, rhyme, acronym, foreign language, mythology, metaphor, and secret code have all been recruited imaginatively by gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals to name what was thought to be unnamable.

"...provides a source for pornographersindeed all writers with a sense of humourto vary their limited and predictable dialogue when it comes to the old ins and outs." Frontiers Magazine (Frontiers )
Available at: Amazon.com  / Amazon UK

The Big Book of Filth by Jonathon Green
Cassell; New Ed edition (March 28, 2003); ISBN: 0304363871

Visceral, raw, and utterly lewd and rude, these more than 6,500 off-color phrases provide a guided tour of sexual wordscapes. Categories include body parts (men's and women's); states of arousal and frustration; masturbation and orgasm; intercourse in a dazzling variety of positions and occasions; oral sex, kinky sex, gay and bi sex, promiscuity, virginity, prostitution, and many other commercial aspects of sex. 

The era of safe sex has brought a new, imaginative coinage of terms for contraception, venereal disease, and AIDS. Sources range from the latest street slang and popular music lyrics, to classical literary allusions, fascinating etymologies, and words that rhyme-all perfect for use in homegrown limericks and greeting cards. Bonus: George Carlin's famous 1970s "12 words you can't say on TV," along with their latest competitors. It's like a red-light district of language!

"Great f*cking book!"  —Stephen King
Available at: Amazon.com  / Amazon UK

21st Century Synonym and Antonym Finder by Kipfer, Barbara Ann
Laurel; Reissue edition (April 4, 1993); ISBN 0440213231

Designed for rapid access, this innovative reference helps writers find the perfect choice of words to get his/her ideas across with impact and accuracy. 

Specially created for contemporary writers and speakers, it includes essential definitions and avoids outmoded, useless entries.
Available at: Amazon.com  / Amazon UK

Garner's Modern American Usage by Bryan A. Garner
Oxford University Press, USA; 2 edition (October 30, 2003); ISBN-10: 0195161912

The first edition of Garner's Modern American Usage established Bryan Garner as "an American equivalent of Fowler" (Library Journal). With more than 23,500 copies sold, this witty, accessible, and engaging book has become the new classic reference work praised by professional copyeditors as well as the general public looking for clear advice on how to write more effectively. In 1999, Choice magazine named it an Outstanding Academic Book and the American Library Association dubbed it an Outstanding Reference Source. With thousands of succinct entries, longer essays on key issues and problematic areas, and up-to-the-minute judgments on everything from trendy words to the debate over personal pronouns, GMAU is approachable yet authoritative.

Since the book first appeared in 1998, Bryan Garner has diligently continued tracking how we use our language. The second edition includes hundreds of new entries ranging from Dubya to weaponize (coined in 1984 but used extensively since 9/11) to foot-and-mouth, plethora (a "highfalutin equivalent of too many"), Slang, Standard English, and Dialects. It also updates hundreds of existing entries. Meanwhile, Garner has written a major essay on the great grammar debate between descriptivists and prescriptivists. Painstakingly researched with copious citations from books and newspapers and newsmagazines, this new edition furthers Garner's mission to help everyone become a better writer, and to enjoy it in the process.
Available at: Amazon.com  / Amazon UK

Dictionaries of Slang and Euphemisms

English As a Second F*cking Language by Sterling Johnson
(July 1996) St. Martin's Press; ISBN 031214329X

Synopsis:  In English, swearing is essential to effective communication. Whether one wants to succeed in business, school, or social circles, a strong command of unprintable language is absolutely necessary. 

Employing a helpful "Need to Know, " "Nice to Know, " and "Forget It" system for identifying swear words, English as a Second Fcking Language offers an informative--and funny--look at taboo words and expressions to boost readers' vocabularies.
Available at: Amazon.com  / Amazon UK

McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears
McGraw-Hill; 4 edition (September 23, 2005); ISBN: 0071461078

More bling for the buck! The #1 guide to American slang is now bigger, more up-to-date, and easier to use

This new edition of McGraw-Hill’s Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions offers complete definitions of more than 12,000 slang and informal expressions from various sources, ranging from golden oldies such as . . . golden oldie, to recent coinages like shizzle (gangsta), jonx (Wall Street), and ping (the Internet). Each entry is followed by examples illustrating how an expression is used in everyday conversation and, where necessary, International Phonetic Alphabet pronunciations are given, as well as cautionary notes for crude, inflammatory, or taboo expressions.

This edition also features a fascinating introduction on "What is Slang?," a Thematic Index that cross-references expressions by standard terms--such as Angry, Drunk, Food, Good-bye, Mess-up, Money, and Stupidity--and a Hidden Word Index that lets you identify and locate even partially remembered expressions and phrases.
Available at: Amazon.com  / Amazon UK

Wicked Words by Hugh Rawson
Crown Pub, November 1989 ASIN 0517590891

Review by Seneca F. Mayfair:  Rawson's book contains nearly a 1,000 entries of slang. He provides a social and historical context for each of the entries in the form of a frequently amusing and always interesting essay. Anyone wishing a brief and excellent introduction to "wicked words" is advised to read Rawson's opening essay "The Anatomy of Wicked Words". Rawson's book is not essential for the writer though glancing through it might spark some ideas. 

For a good read, I'd choose Rawson over Spears any day. An example of Rawson's scholarship and wonderful sense of humor is his entry for "coxcomb". He defines the word and gives its origin: "coxcomb. A vain fob, a conceited fool, from 'cock's comb', originally a red strip of cloth . . . that professional fools of the Middle Ages wore on their caps. The term has been applied as an insult to nonprofessional fools for the past four hundred years or so." John Adams apparently disliked fellow founding father Alexander Hamilton and dismissed him as "an insolent coxcomb" and a "brat". This is a book to be enjoyed.
Available at: Amazon.com  / Amazon UK

Grammar Guides

The Elements of Style Illustrated by William Strunk & E.B. White
Penguin (August 28, 2007); ISBN-10: 0143112724

Every English-language writer knows Strunk and White's famous little writing manual, The Elements of Style. Many people between the ages of seventeen and seventy can recite the book's mantra--make every word tell--and still refer to their tattered grade school copy when in need of a hint on how to make a turn of phrase clearer, or a reminder on how to enliven prose with the active voice. Considering that millions of copies have been sold to millions of devotees, you might not think to ask what could enhance this (almost) perfect classic. In fact, the addition of illustrations allows readers to experience the book's contents in a completely new way, making the whole learning experience more colorful and clear, as well as adding a whimsical element that compliments the subtly humorous tone of the prose. The Elements of Style Illustrated will come to be known as the definitive, must-have edition.

Maira Kalman is the offbeat and wildly talented illustrator of twelve children's books, numerous covers for The New Yorker magazine, fabrics for the fashion designers Isaac Mizrahi and Kate Spade, watches and accessories for the Museum of Modern Art, and a mural at the elegant Wavehill estate in Riverdale, among other projects. Her sophisticated and witty images that are yet bright and fanciful have won her a devoted following, especially among young urbanites. Maira Kalman is acknowledged by the E. B. White estate as the single artist trusted to illustrate the revered The Elements of Style.

The Elements of Style Illustrated brings a fresh immediacy to the well-loved, much-valued, and still on-point work that has become an institution. While giving the classic work a jolt of new energy to appeal to contemporary readers, Kalman's illustrations are themselves timeless, designed to sit alongside the ever-enduring manual for another fifty years and more.
Available at: Amazon.com  / Amazon UK

Grammatically Correct: The Writer's Essential Guide to Punctuation, Spelling, Style, Usage and Grammar by Anne Stilman
Writers Digest Books (September 5, 2004); ISBN 1582973318

For those who value correct grammar, Anne Stilman has written the definitive guide. She holds you to her high grammatical standards, and clearly explains how to follow the rules. There are chapters on "Spelling," "Punctuation," "Grammar," and "Style," and Stilman patiently elucidates the rules of colons, brackets, and plural formations, while gracefully tackling the common misuses of "lie" versus "lay." Her illustrative examples bring the stickiest lessons home. Quoting from Woody Allen, Vikram Seth, Mark Twain, and other likable authors, issues of pronoun choice, parallelism, and ellipses come clear. 

Although Stilman cuts no slack on errors, she concedes that grammar evolves. While she suggests that you avoid splitting infinitives, she also believes you shouldn't introduce excessive awkwardness merely to conform to a rule that was dogmatically decreed years ago for no particular reasons of clarity or merit.
Available at: Amazon.com  / Amazon UK

The Chicago Manual of Style by University of Chicago Press Staff
University of Chicago Press; 15th edition (August 1, 2003); ISBN: 0226104036

In the 1890s, a proofreader at the University of Chicago Press prepared a single sheet of typographic fundamentals intended as a guide for the University community. That sheet grew into a pamphlet, and the pamphlet grew into a book--the first edition of the Manual of Style, published in 1906. Now in its fifteenth edition, The Chicago Manual of Style--the essential reference for authors, editors, proofreaders, indexers, copywriters, designers, and publishers in any field--is more comprehensive and easier to use than ever before. 

Those who work with words know how dramatically publishing has changed in the past decade, with technology now informing and influencing every stage of the writing and publishing process. In creating the fifteenth edition of the Manual, Chicago's renowned editorial staff drew on direct experience of these changes, as well as on the recommendations of the Manual's first advisory board, composed of a distinguished group of scholars, authors, and professionals from a wide range of publishing and business environments.

Every aspect of coverage has been examined and brought up to date--from publishing formats to editorial style and method, from documentation of electronic sources to book design and production, and everything in between. In addition to books, the Manual now also treats journals and electronic publications. All chapters are written for the electronic age, with advice on how to prepare and edit manuscripts online, handle copyright and permissions issues raised by technology, use new methods of preparing mathematical copy, and cite electronic and online sources.
Available at: Amazon.com  / Amazon UK

The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation by Jane Straus
8th edition ( November, 2004); Jane Straus; ISBN 0966722175

This easy-to-use reference guide and workbook is now available in a new edition. Jane Straus has added 50% more material—more rules, more exercises, more tests, and, of course, more answers. In 104 pages that are painless and amusing, Jane will reveal to you the mysteries of grammar and punctuation.

An indispensable tool for teachers, students, writers, proofreaders, editors, managers, and clerical staff, over 65,000 copies are circulating in schools, offices, and the hallowed halls of government, making users feel confident writing papers, letters, memos, and even emails.
Available at: Amazon.com  / Amazon UK

Woe Is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English by Patricia T. O'Conner
Reprint edition (August 1998) Riverhead Books; ISBN 1573226254

Written by Patricia T. O'Conner, an editor at the New York Times Book Review, Woe Is I gives lighthearted, witty instruction on the subject most of us dreaded in school--grammar. Discussion is brief and concise, and much more engaging than the grammar books you may remember. With chapter titles such as "Woe is I Therapy for Pronoun Anxiety," "Your Truly The Possessive and the Possessed," "Verbal Abuse Words on the Endangered List," "Comma Sutra; The Joy of Punctuation," and "Death Sentence Do Cliches Deserve to Die?," O'Conner proves that even grammar can make for entertaining reading.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "The best primer on English usage to come along since Strunk and White's The Elements of Style."

About the Author: Patricia T. O'Conner is a senior copy editor at The New York Times Book Review who has written guest columns for William Safire. She has also conducted a grammar course for Times employees.
Available at: Amazon.com  / Amazon UK

Words Fail Me: What Everyone Who Writes Should Know About Writing by Patricia T. O'Conner
(September 2000) Harvest Books; ISBN 0156010879

Patricia T. O'Conner's Words Fail Me is written in the same lighthearted tone as her snappy grammar guide, Woe Is I. This time out, O'Conner tackles the writer's art. "Good writing," she says, "is writing that works." This book is the perfect text for the novice writer who tends to gravitate toward comedic instructors. "Crummy spelling," says O'Conner, "is more noticeable than crummy anything else." Organizing your material "may be a pain in the butt, but it's thankless, too!" "Write as though you were addressing someone whose opinion you value, even if the reader is ... a stingy insurance company that won't pay for your tummy tuck." 

O'Conner's material isn't new--like many such books, Words Fail Me advocates the use of small words, fresh verbs, and only well-chosen modifiers--but rarely is a primer so amusing. And the clever titles strewn throughout--"Taking Leave of Your Tenses," "The It Parade"--provide added pleasure, particularly for anyone who knows how hard it can be to put a headline on a piece of writing. --Jane Steinberg
Available at: Amazon.com  / Amazon UK

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