'Words' takes aim at misuse of language

By MICHAEL PAKENHAM
BALTIMORE SUN
"Words You Thought You Knew ... 1001 Commonly Misused and Misunderstood Words and Phrases," by Jenna Glatzer (Adams Media, $8.95)
Jenna Glatzer has specialized in counseling her fellow free-lance writers, in two books and in periodicals.
Here, she puts together a useful, brightly presented set of admonitions to use language correctly with emphasis on errors that have become clich & eacute;s.
It's "champing at the bit," not "chomping." And she straightens out the "lay/lie" muddlement nicely and precisely.
She's fiercely derisive of anyone who commits the "could care less" crime against the ear and reason. A very substantial number of the entries are so basic that anyone who needs be instructed or reminded of the meaning or a distinction is doubtful to be a reader at all: "pray/prey," "avenge/revenge," "bald-faced/bold-faced."
But in an era in which laziness in language is pandemic, there is usefulness and persuasiveness enough here to make it valuable.