A World without "Whom" by Emmy Favilla

A WORLD WITHOUT "WHOM" by Emmy J. Favilla is subtitled “The Essential Guide to Language in the BuzzFeed Age.” Favilla, who is BuzzFeed’s Copy Chief, should know and she certainly provides an entertaining look at rules and etiquette with respect to language.  Her text describes the evolution of the guide and reasons behind many of the choices. Plus, there are plenty of tweets, emojis, and lists, including, for example, almost 4 pages filled with definitions of British swearwords. The international perspective adds a welcome note and reinforces the idea that language is ever evolving.  There is even a whole chapter on How Not to Be a Jerk (when writing about sensitive topics). Or how about the “old-timey words you need to start using again” like horsefeathers, flapdoodle and bafflegab?

 

Upbeat and relaxed, A WORLD WITHOUT "WHOM" will make you laugh and teach you quite a bit.  It has four appendices (includes BuzzFeed Style Guide Word Lists for the US and the UK), extensive notes, additional quizzes and an index to improve use-ability (see several pages on proper use of hyphens… and ellipses). Enjoy!