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The Vine

The Tomato Nation advice column addresses your questions on etiquette, grammar, romance, and pet misbehavior. Ask The Readers about books or fashion today!

Home » The Vine

The Vine: December 8, 2010

Submitted by on December 8, 2010 – 11:08 AM33 Comments

Hi Sars!

With the holidays fast approaching, I have a grammar and gift-giving question for you.

I work in the editorial department of a national company, but my other editorial cohorts (three fabulous women!) work in an office across the country. I would like to send them all a great, grammar-themed present.

I would send them all a copy of Garner (which they don’t have — gasp!) but I would like to send them each something, and I don’t really want to send three of the same reference book to the same office. I wouldn’t mind sending all three of them the same thing, or sending each of them a variation on the same thing; I just feel like three copies of the same editorial tome might be a bit much. Maybe one copy of Garner and then also something else for each of them.

Do you have any suggestions for me? It can be something funny, something useful, both…I’m just kind of at a loss! I’d like to keep it under $50 each. We’re a pretty casual company, but it should probably be more or less appropriate for a very relaxed office.

Giving a Lame Present: Stage 2 (widely shunned)

Dear Prez,

I’d go with a copy of the Garner for all three of them, but what you get for each one of them depends on the individual. I imagine they already have Strunk & White on their desks, but they might not have William Zinsser’s On Writing Well, which is a treasure.

You could go in a fun direction with some semi-serious references like Yada, Yada, Do’h: 111 Television Words That Made the Leap from the Screen to Society; The Meaning of Tingo; one of Jane and Michael Stern’s encyclopediae (the bad-taste one is my favorite); or Eats, Shoots & Leaves.

There’s also Barnhart’s dictionary of etymology (it’s around $35, but it’s a veritable cube of information — lift with your legs! — and doubles as a doorstop), or Grant Barrett’s nifty (and waaaay lighter) Official Dictionary of Unofficial English. Or you could look on eBay, half.com, or your local used bookstore for vintage dictionaries with curtly authoritative names (I own The Standard Dictionary of Facts, which…okay, then?), quaintly dated fold-outs of exoskeletons and maps with “Siam” on them, that sort of thing.

If they like non-fiction, you’ve got the memoir by the dude who read the OED in one year or whatever it was — and one of my favorites, Aaron Lansky’s Outwitting History: The Amazing Adventures of a Man Who Rescued a Million Yiddish Books.

This is but a fraction of the permanent collection here at the Far Thill Library, and I know the readers will have additional ideas…

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33 Comments »

  • Laura says:

    Is there a limit to recommendations per comment?

    At home I have The Highly Selective Dictionary for the Extraordinarily Literate, The Highly Selective Thesaurus ditto, and Bill Bryson’s The Mother Tongue, which is fun despite some frustrating factual inaccuracies. As soon as my officemate isn’t looking, I’m stealing I’m Not Hanging Noodles From Your Ears off her desk. And back in 4th grade my teacher gave me a copy of Wordsmanship, which is available used and which I hold responsible for my lifelong love of 50-cent words.

    Also, how about The Illustrated Elements of Style?

  • Kate McKean says:

    THE BOOK OF “UNNECESSARY” QUOTATION MARKS! http://amzn.to/dUPUEU

    Everyone loves punctuation humor!

  • Sarah D. Bunting says:

    Everyone on MY Christmas list had better love it because I just ordered like 16 copies. McKean FTW.

  • Karen says:

    Yes! THE KNOW IT ALL by AJ Jacobs is a great read. And you learn a lot.

  • Prez says:

    Prez here!

    Thanks so much for the awesome ideas.

    @McKean – one of my colleagues actually sends me pictures of awesome unnecessary quotes that she finds, so that will be the perfect gift for her!

    @Sars – the curtly-titled dictionary sounds just perfect for another one; off to the used bookstore tonight!

    Can’t wait to check out the others you’ve mentioned for the third.

    This is why I’ve been a devout Tomato National lo these many years – and the fact that the nation was able to find the name of my peanut butter and mayo sandwich book (http://tiny.cc/wgmtu).

    Again, thanks!!!

  • Jenn says:

    No, not the book by the guy who read the OED! He is bitter because he will never be A.J. Jacobs! Go with Karen’s suggestion instead.

  • Prez says:

    Actually, I am going to be in New York this weekend – any awesome used bookstore recs in Brooklyn or Manhattan where I may be able to find these vintage dictionaries?

  • Megan in Seattle says:

    Another possibility is “Things That Make Us [Sic]” by Martha Brockenbrough.

  • Lindsay says:

    I thought “The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary” by Simon Winchester was a fascinating read. I’m flirting with getting “The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: A Handbook of Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager and the Doomed” by Karen Elizabeth Gordon for a friend who is obsessed with both grammar and gothic stories.

  • Amy says:

    This is the best book I have read about the history of Standard English: The lexicographer’s dilemma by Jack Lynch. Absolutely fascinating. http://www.amazon.com/Lexicographers-Dilemma-Evolution-English-Shakespeare/dp/0802777694/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291830871&sr=8-1

  • Lianne says:

    I loved Eats, Shoots & Leaves! I second that one. :) In addition to the communal volume of Garner, of course.

    In terms of thinking of other ideas, I know there are lots of different page-a-day calendars. I’ve seen several that are word origin and grammar themed.

  • Liz says:

    Do they have to be books? My day-job involves (among other things) editing technical documents, and my side-job is proofreading e-books for a small-press publisher, and pretty much any of the items on this page would make me squeal with combined glee and amused horror: http://shop.cafepress.com/grammar

  • Another Karen says:

    What about mugs or tote bags or something with editing-related humor? If you search CafePress or Zazzle for “editor,” there are lots of options.

  • Wehaf says:

    Eats, Shoots, and Leaves is all kinds of awesome!

  • Jen S 1.0 says:

    Talk To The Hand,the non follow up to Eats,Shoots,And Leaves,is also hilarious and trenchant–go,Lynn Truss! It’s not about grammar, but “the utter bloody rudeness” of the world today, and you will want to read Theodore Dalyrymple and How To Be A Brit once you’ve finished.

  • Wehaf says:

    And there is also a “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks. Sorry for ruining your productivity for the day.

  • Kaitlyn says:

    Prez, the Strand is an amazing place to shop for used books:
    http://www.strandbooks.com/

  • JF says:

    Prez — if you’re coming to Manhattan, run, do not walk to The Strand, they have all manner of books, old and new, and frequently for reasonable prices.

    http://www.strandbooks.com

    Happy Hunting!

  • Erin says:

    I think you should get them all Semicolon Appreciation Society t-shirts. :-) http://www.cafepress.com/dictyevangelist

    If you want something you’re sure they don’t have, there’s a GREAT new book out from Elizabeth Knowles, who is the former editor of the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. It’s called “How to Read a Word.”

    The Word Menu is a great book that not enough people know about, and it’s easy to find used online. The copy with the yellow cover was a QPBC edition, so there are TONS of them out there. It’s a thesaurus of things!

    [PS: Hi Kate!]

  • Sarah D. Bunting says:

    If you’re headed out to Brooklyn, let me know. There are several that I like, including the one near my house (which has a store cat who is veddy cute).

    I second the Strand, but be warned that the supernatural aisle always smells like pee. Why I can speak to this with authority is as pathetic as the stench itself, no doubt; I am not, however, the pee-er.

    @Erin: Cue “It’s A Small World” (I met Mr. Barrett at one of your parties).

  • Profreader says:

    If you don’t find what you need at The Strand or elsewhere, Abebooks.com is a great resource for ordering used books. I suppose getting kind of close-ish to Christmas, but worth taking a look. (You probably know about Abebooks, but worth a mention.)

    The pee-smell at The Strand: too true.

  • Prez says:

    @ Sars – I’m actually staying with a friend in Brooklyn – George Street, I believe? – so I would love some good recommendations! I fell in love with my first bookstore cat when I was about seven at this awesome place in my hometown: http://tulsatvmemories.com/meyer.html Needless to say, I’m intrigued.

    All – these are some amazing ideas. And now I have a few more items to add to my own Christmas list!

  • Sarah D. Bunting says:

    Book Court — 163 Court St. — not a used-book seller, but a good indie
    Community Book Store — 212 Court St. — the rhyme-and-reason-free shelving system actually leads to some good finds
    Word — 126 Franklin
    Community Bookstore — 143 7th Ave.
    Babbo’s — 242 Prospect Park West
    Heights Books — 120 Smith St.
    Atlantic Bookshop — 179 Atlantic

    and the flea markets and more generalist vintage stores usually have a selection as well (but the Brooklyn Flea’s prices are…not competitive).

  • Jo says:

    I second the recommendation for the illustrated “Elements of Style.” I’m a newspaper copy editor, and my former coworker LOVES his copy. It’s pretty cool, really.

    I haven’t read the Simon Winchester book, but I’ve read some of his other books and loved them, so that’s probably a good suggestion.

  • JamieS says:

    I got my grammar nerd friend the “Good Grammar Costs Nothing” hoodie from Glarkware. They come in many different colors!

  • Madge says:

    If you’re looking for silly yet useful, I am very fond of The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: http://www.amazon.com/Deluxe-Transitive-Vampire-Handbook-Innocent/dp/0679418601/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291856052&sr=1-1

  • dakotawitch says:

    I also really like The New Well Tempered Sentence and The Transitive Vampire for fun, yet informative, grammar-themed books.

  • Jane says:

    Thirded on the Karen Elizabeth Gordon books. I recommend them to all my students. The samples and the illustrations are worth the price of admission right there.

  • Carley says:

    I love the Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce. It’s pretty authoritative–well, it’s opinionated, which often serves the same purpose.

  • Holly says:

    Thank you all for adding so many new books to my wish list! I have the “good grammar costs nothing” tee shirt from Glarkware and have been told it’s adorable.

  • Emma says:

    There’s also a day calendar out for Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, which could be kept in the office for all three of them. http://tinyurl.com/2bhflkl

  • La Bender says:

    Maira Kalman’s illustrated _Strunk and White_ might be an option. It’s truly lovely. Here’s the link: http://www.mairakalman.com/elements.html.

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