Right, Wrong, and Risky: A Dictionary of Today's American English Usage

For anyone challenged by the changes and controversies in the world's most widely used language: Standard American English.

Right, Wrong, and Risky provides simple, direct answers to questions about word choice, spelling, grammar, and punctuation; in straightforward alphabetical order. The answers are supported by thousands of up-to-date published usage examples. And the reader is told not just that particular usages are right or wrong, but why. In addition, Right, Wrong, and Risky  warns the reader about risky words like cleave and suspicious, and the many risky situations in which usage authorities disagree about what is and is not acceptable in Standard American English. For every such quandary, this book provides a risk-free solution. Browsers will learn why we tell stage performers to break a leg, why it's not really an insult to call someone a philistine or even a Neanderthal, and why it's wise never to use the word fortuitous or say the word forte aloud.

Mark Davidson was a writer, author, and journalist, and a former professor at UCLA, USC, and Cal State.