Product Description

The best-selling guide to English usage. This new, expanded ninth edition of the best-selling guide to style is based on The Economist's own house style manual, and is an invaluable companion for everyone who wants to communicate with the clarity, style and precision for which The Economist is renowned. As the introduction says, 'clarity of writing usually follows clarity of thought.' THE STYLE GUIDE gives general advice on writing, points out common errors and cliches, offers guidance on consistent use of punctuation, abbreviations and capital letters, and contains an exhaustive range of reference material - covering everything from accountancy ratios and stock market indices to laws of nature and science. Some of the numerous useful rules and common mistakes pointed out in the guide include: * Which informs, that defines. This is the house that Jack built. But This house, which Jack built, is now falling down. * Discreet means circumspect or prudent; discrete means separate or distinct.Remember that "Questions are never indiscreet. Answers sometimes are" (Oscar Wilde). * Fortuitous means accidental, not fortunate or well-timed.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5460 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Most newspapers and magazines issue their contributors with a style guide. Writers, be they on staff or freelance, then know whether a publication's house style requires % or per cent or commas in dates. Sometimes it's just a tatty sheet of typed A4 but since 1986 The Economist has developed its stylish Style Guide, through six editions, into a full length reference book.

Because English is such a vast and continuously evolving language--its vocabulary is double that of French and more than three times larger than German--it is open to multifarious use and all the old arguments about correctness or lack of it. The Economist unequivocally sets out its version of what is acceptable and why, usually conforming to Fowler's Modern English Usage and other good guides to getting it right. It also refutes dozens of common errors, stating firmly, for example, that "Data are plural" and that "Any one refers to a number; anyone to anybody."

Since its style guide is set out in such detail, it makes sense to publish it for the rest of the world, most of whom are not writers for The Economist but who simply want a succinctly witty guide to writing accurately. The first section focuses on minutiae such as distinguishing between a "little-used car" and a "little used-car". It also insists that "to never split an infinitive is quite easy" and, in English so impeccable that you have to read it twice to be sure, that "Frankenstein was not a monster, but his creator." After a section setting out rules governing American and British English this handy reference book provides a miscellany of useful information including abbreviations, currencies, calendars and conversions for metric and imperial measurements. --Susan Elkin

Review
Independent on Sunday - 'the gold standard'

From the Back Cover
An authoritative reference on clear, concise writing

Witty, concise, and enlightening, The Economist Style Guide is an authoritative resource for all your written communications. Based on the style guide used by the writers for the renowned international business journal acclaimed for its crisp, clear writing, this practical guide offers unerring guidance on grammar, usage, and style in business communications.

Providing sage advice on writing in general ("Use the language of everyday speech"; "Long paragraphs, like long sentences, confuse the reader"; "Don't overdo the use of don't, isn't, can't, won't, etc."), the Guide clarifies such perpetual questions as: compare with (emphasizes differences) and compare to (similarities) different---used with from, not to or than affect (to have an influence on) and effect (to accomplish)

There's also invaluable information on international business terms and abbreviations, political and geographical facts, units of measurement, currencies, trade classifications, differences between American and British English, and much more.

In today's high-speed business environment, the ability to communicate clearly, accurately, and concisely is essential to professional success. The Economist Style Guide has become the reference of choice for businesspeople everywhere who need practical, authoritative advice on how to improve their written communications.

Developed from the style guide used by those who work for The Economist--the international business journal renowned for its writing excellence--this handy resource provides easily accessible answers to the numerous questions of usage, grammar, and style that frequently arise in the course of a business day.

Offering invaluable guidance on the principles of good writing, The Economist Style Guide defines commonly misused words and expressions, and explains the correct use of punctuation, abbreviations, capital letters, and more --all illustrated with an abundance of amusing examples.

As an aid to those engaged in international business, the Guide supplies a wealth of handy reference material on such areas as units of measurement, political and geographical terms, currencies, trade classifications, differences between American and British English, and much more.

Whether you are dashing off a quick e-mail message or preparing a formal report, The Economist Style Guide will help you hone your language skills and sharpen all your business communications. It is an indispensable aid to clarity and precision that will prove its value again and again as the reference book you'll keep within reach whenever you write.

Customer Reviews

A great guide for business and professional writers.
This is a valuable guide and reference for people who have to write business and professional documents. If you use it properly it will iron out inconsistencies in your style and make your work easier to read and understand. Accepted, if you have no inspiration or you tend to write complete drivel it can't do the job for you, but if you know what you want to say this book will help you say it clearly.

I've had a copy on and off for years - this will be my fifth. The only problem is that people tend to borrow it and find it so useful that they forget to give it back...

Essential reference book
This is a great publication and should be on the shelf of anyone who writes for a living. IMHO it is not as good as the sporadic FT Style Guide, but that seems to come and go out of print very quickly. This is a worthy alternative.

Excellent in what it covers, but...
Excellent glossaries e.g. of proper names that have changed over recent years (UKraine, not the Ukraine; Beijing, not Peking) and of currencies.

Excellent for pointing out fuzzy thinking in your writing and for exposing the emptiness of certain cliches.

Perfect for journalistic purposes; less exhaustive for academic writing or other formal writing.

Beware: many of the recommendations are Economist house style and are not standard British English (e.g. small capitals for all abbreviations).

You will need Oxford: New Hart's Rules (now contained in the Oxford Style Manual) for a full examination of the punctuation of quotations, since the Guide applies journalistic conventions, in which the standard rules of British English puncutation are often reversed.