The Dimwit's Dictionary: More Than 5,000 Overused Words and Phrases and Alternatives to Them

This is a good read - as a writing and speech reference and just for the fun of it. In Part 1, the late Mr. Fiske explained the two categories, Chapter 1 (Expressions That Dull Our Reason and Dim Our Insight) and in Chapter 2 (Writing That Demands to Be Read Aloud, Speech that Calls to Be Captured in Print). Part 2 is the Dimwit's Dictionary, the fun part. O.K., I meant a Dictionary that's fun to read, with constant reference to Part 1. The late William Safire recommended it and Joseph Epstein presented a most interesting and inviting Foreword. My only regret ? I wish I could extend 9 and one half stars ! No, I am not a paid reviewer nor did I receive an initial copy from the publisher; and to my regret I never met Mr. Fiske.

I love this book. It's a great reference for writers. My kids use this book, and I've found them going through it on several occasions. If you're a writer, you need to purchase this book. It gives a freshness to vocabulary and it's very sensible and comprehensible.

Though I've been writing professionally for more than twenty-five years, I'm having fun reading random entries in The Dimwit's Dictionary: 5,000 Overused Words and Phrases and Alternatives to Them, and its companion volume, The Dictionary of Concise Writing: 10,000 Alternatives to Wordy Phrases, because I need the occasional expert opinion (suspect superlative!) because my prose can suddenly and without warning (a wretched redundancy!) go overboard (a moribund metaphor!) and basically (overworked word!) commit egregious errors (an inescapable pair!) and even lapse into what is really and truly (infantile phrase!) as dead as a dodo (insipid simile!). -- Bill Kent, award-winning journalist and author of the six books This is not a book that most people would sit down and read as I did, but it is a great and interesting reference! -- Stephanie L. Roberts, Joseph-Beth Booksellers Your Dimwit's Dictionary has helped me become much more critical of how I write and speak. Thank You, Mr. Fiske! Your work is original because there is no other work which categorizes overused phrases and cliches, and offers concise alternatives. Your title, Dimwit's Dictionary, masks the precision and true noble purpose of your book: to regain a sensitivity to our language so that we may express our feelings and thoughts more accurately and deeply, and become more self-aware as human beings. -- Bullwinkle495

The title itself is more than just a little self-righteously pedantic, and the language used within often reflects the title. However, the contents are an excellent reference tool for anyone interested in sparking up their writing. Cliché's, misplaced metaphors, and other identifications made by Fiske occur too often in published books. I personally use this (along with its relative companion, The Dictionary of Concise Writing) with regularity, and have caught myself more than once using language that could use some freshening up.

'Manglish' ~ the act of mangling the English language ~ is sadly alive and thriving in the world. And many writers aren't helping just adding to the growing trend of misspellings, tautologies and clichés as well as hackneyed metaphors, inane expressions and bloated or weak writing. Fortunately, help is at hand. Robert Hartwell Fiscke has produced two powerful, literary weapons for protectors of the language ~ The Dimwit's Dictionary: 5000 Overused Words and Phrases and Alternatives to Them and The Dictionary of Concise Writing: 10,000 Alternatives to Wordy Phrases.The key to good writing, according to Fiske who is also the author and publisher of The Vocabula Review (an online journal about the English language), is concise and precise writing ~ and that's just what he offers with these two excellent reference books.At first glance, you may be offended by the Dimwit's title ~ what person would buy a book which suggests he or she is a dimwit? Well, after leafing through it, you'll know why you bought it and maybe even refer to some of your past efforts as dimwit. I know I did.The 400-page book is divided into two parts. The first examines a wide range of examples of lazy and weak writing, showing scribes how to improve useage through better word choices and creativity with the language.Part two is the dictionary portion of the volume. It offers literally an A to Z guide of thousands of overused words and phrases, and provides fresh alternatives.As Fiske explains from the outset: "Dimwitticisms are worn-out words and phrases; they are expressions that dull our reason and dim our insight, formulas that we rely on when we are too lazy to express what we think or even to discover how we feel. The more we use them, the more we conform ~ in thought and feeling ~ to everyone else who uses them."The book arranges dimwitticisms into a variety of categories which include:* Foreign phrases* Grammatical gimmicks* Ineffectual phrases* Inescapable pairs* Infantile phrases* Moribund metaphors* Overworked words* Plebeian sentiments* Popular prescriptions* Quack equations* Suspect superlatives* Torpid terms* Withered words* Wretched redundanciesOften entertaining and always enlightening, The Dimwit's Dictionary demystifies English usage, providing a simple-to-use guide on what words and phrases to avoid and how to adopt an exciting, original and succinct approach to your writing.But don't be fooled by the title ~ this book is not only an excellent reference guide, it's also interesting enough to read cover to cover. Once you begin reading entries, you'll find it difficult to put down - seriously.-- Michael Meanwell, author of the critically-acclaimed 'The Enterprising Writer' and 'Writers on Writing'. For more book reviews and prescriptive articles for writers, visit www.enterprisingwriter.com

I am fond of both excellent books by Fiske. The Dictionary of Concise Writing has sharpened my awareness of unnecessary words. And although I have just received it, I can already see that The Dimwit's Dictionary may be just the book I have been looking for. I see two uses for the DD in my work. (1) I teach a communications course for adults in Beijing studying for an MBA degree. They have to write position papers in English and this book can give them more insights into word usage than a thesaurus alone. Also, (2) many Chinese living in the U.S. are stumped by the idioms in our language. For example, when I taught first in China in January 2002, no one knew the meaning of "thinking on your feet." Again, DD can help them understand these stale phrases by discovering fresh alternatives that say the same thing. Idioms keep cultures from communicating. I shall include both books in all my writing bibliographies from now on.