Reviewed by Nancy Mehl for MyShelf.com
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Reviewing THE DIMWIT'S DICTIONARY is somewhat like walking into a mine field with magnets strapped to your body - you know you're just asking for trouble. But, nothing ventured, nothing gained…wait a minute, I'm already on the wrong track. Wow, how did I get into this?

The phrases above are examples of a popular prescription, a moribund metaphor, and a plebeian sentiment. Robert Harwell Fiske has gathered together examples of words and phrases that are universal favorites but have been used and overused until they have become ineffective in their application. Fiske encourages readers to use creativity in their language, throwing out the lazy expressions that have worked their way into our conversations - and our writing.

THE DIMWIT'S DICTIONARY points out the following troublesome categories: foreign phrases, grammatical gimmicks, ineffectual phrases, inescapable pairs, infantile phrases, moribund metaphors, overworked words, plebeian sentiments, popular prescriptions, quack equations, suspect superlatives, torpid terms, withered words, and wretched redundancies. Each category is explained, and offending words and phrases are listed in alphabetical order, making them easy to find. The problem is that most of them are familiar…too familiar.

Mr. Fiske has put together a fun and informative guide to "dimwittedness," a book that everyone who writes or talks should keep where it can be easily reached. The dimwits of the world thank you, Mr. Fiske! (Not that I know any…really and truly I don't!)