Take My Word for It - The Riddles of English Usage

Take my Word for it: The Riddles of English Usage by Ian Gordon. 'The strange thing is that, while you cannot drive a car safely without obeying the rules of the road, you can speak and write your own language very capably without knowing any rules at all..' When is a saucepan not a saucepan? Where do you make a morning call in the afternoon? Why are things 'dead' easy? And why do final demands always start with a meaningless little word 'Dear'? Former New Zealand Listener Language co;umnist Professor Ian Gordon has spent a lifetime exploring and writing about the English language.'