Mind the Gaffe!

<p>A linguist with attitude R. L. Trask was a steadfast soldier in the never-ending War of Words fighting the good fight for standard written English. Revered for its insight and legendary for its cheek Trask's <em>Mind the Gaffe!</em> is an indispensable guidebook for wordsmiths and language mavens of every stripe providing safe passage through the ubiquitous minefields of improper usage.</p><ul><li><p>Artiste: This pretentious word . . . commonly means fraud pretending to be an artist. Don't use it unless you mean to be insulting.</p></li><li><p>Amoral Immoral: An amoral person is one who does not know the difference between right and wrong. An immoral person knows the difference but does wrong anyway.</p></li><li><p>Reaction: A reaction is a sudden and spontaneous response to a stimulus such as jumping shrieking or fainting. The word is not properly used as a fancy word for any kind of considered response. If you circulate a policy document you can ask others for their opinions or for their criticisms but do not ask them for their reactions unless you hope to hear responses like I burst into uncontrollable laughter.</p></li></ul>