Grammar Girl's 101 Words to Sound Smart

by Mignon Fogarty

Overview

Millions of people around the world communicate better thanks to Mignon Fogarty, aka Grammar Girl, whose top-rated weekly grammar podcast has been downloaded more than 40 million times. Now she's turning her attention to improving our vocabulary—one smart word at a time—with Grammar Girl's 101 Words to Sound Smart.

Are you often stumped for the perfect way to say or write something? Do you find yourself using the same words over and over? Grammar Girl to the rescue! This handy reference guide contains 101 words that will enhance your writing, adding nuance, subtlety, and insight. Using these words in speeches, you'll sound confident and articulate—a skill that will benefit you for years to come.

Full of clear, straightforward definitions and fun quotations from historic luminaries such as Leonardo da Vinci and Charlotte Bronte as well as contemporary notables such as Dave Eggers and Rowan Atkinson, this highly useable guidebook gives you the ability to speak and write eloquently at any occasion, setting you up for a lifetime of success.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312573461
Publisher:	St. Martin's Press
Publication date:	11/08/2011
Series:	Quick & Dirty Tips Series
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.13(h) x 0.36(d)

About the Author

Mignon Fogarty, the creator of Grammar Girl and the founder of the Quick and Dirty Tips Network, is also the author of the New York Times bestselling GRAMMAR GIRL'S QUICK AND DIRTY TIPS FOR BETTER WRITING and THE GRAMMAR DEVOTIONAL. Her straightforward, bite-sized tips on grammar have led to features in the New York Times, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, and an appearance on Oprah. She lives in Reno, Nevada.

Read an Excerpt

Grammar Girl's 101 Words to Sound Smart

Abjure

Abjure and jury both share the Latin root for "swear." Whereas a jury swears an oath, to abjure is to swear something off, to forswear it. Abjuring can be a formal act sealed by an oath, or an informal act similar to recanting a statement or shunning a person or activity.

"I abjure you," Alcide said. Colonel Flood winced, and young Sid, Amanda, and Culpepper looked both astonished and impressed, as if this were a ceremony they'd never thought to witness. "I see you no longer. I hunt with you no longer. I share flesh with you no longer."

 

—Charlaine Harris in the Sookie Stackhouse novel Dead to the World

 

I have from an early age abjured the use of meat, and the time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men.

 

—Leonardo da Vinci

GRAMMAR GIRL'S 101 WORDS TO SOUND SMART. Copyright © 2011 by Mignon Fogarty. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

Editorial Reviews

For anyone who writes; whether blogs or greeting cards, and anyone who speaks in public ... this book should be in your reference library!” —City Book Review

“A very cute little book and a perfect stocking stuffer!...Recommended for the aspiring writer in your life!” —Booking Mama

From the Publisher