DICTIONARY OF MODERN ENGLISH USAGE

DICTIONARY OF MODERN ENGLISH USAGE, short forms Modern English Usage, MEU. The best-known usage manual of the 20c, compiled by H. W. FOWLER and published by Oxford University Press in 1926, with a 2nd edition edited by Sir Ernest GOWERS in 1965. Every major hazard in English usage was subjected to reanalysis and, where necessary, provided with sage qualifications or ‘Keep Off’ signs. MEU is a collection of articles arranged under both ordinary headings (this, thistle, thither, -th nouns, those, though) and idiosyncratic ones (battered ornaments, out of the frying pan, sturdy indefensibles, swapping horses). This work in particular has made the name Fowler as well known among those interested in usage and the language as Johnson and Webster, a point of reference for both those who venerate and those who regret what he has had to say. In 1996, Oxford brought out The New Fowler's Modern English Usage, edited by R. W. Burchfield. Presented as the 3rd edition, this is effectively a new book that sets Fowler himself in historical perspective. Oxford currently publishes both the 2nd and 3rd editions. See USAGE GUIDANCE AND CRITICISM.