San Antonio College Library

Provides straightforward information about American-English word usages, spelling, grammar, and punctuation, in an up-to-date guide that provides etymologies for common terms and phrases, word lore, and discussions of why certain rules are disputed by usage authorities.

Explains the origins of words, phrases, idioms, and slang in our language.

Now fully revised and brought up-to-date, this one-volume course in good writing brims with helpful answers - large and small - for readers who want to use English clearly, naturally, and correctly. Alphabetical for easy consulting (and full of cross-references), the book carries the reader to the entry that explains a troublesome word or phrase - and shows how to use or avoid it; no time lost in wondering whether the problem is one of grammar, syntax,...

It is said to be the most frequently spoken (or typed) word on the planet, more common than an infant's first word ma or the ever present beverage Coke. It was even the first word spoken on the moon. It is "OK", the most ubiquitous and invisible of American expressions, one used countless times every day. Yet few of us know the secret history of OK, how it was coined, what it stood for, and the amazing extent of its influence. The author, a writer...