16 Quotes by Ammon Shea

Telephone books are, like dictionaries, already out of date the moment they are printed....

And for many of the other questions, the answers I received were cloaked in the sort of highly polished public relations vagueness that makes responses so measured and couched in nuance that they are essentially meaningless.

For the benefit of those half-dozen people who will see a name like Gwillim and put this book down in order to go look it up to see where it comes from — it is the Welsh version of William

...Zachary winched a few more letters onto his last name and declared himself king of the Z aficionados.

[U]se extreme caution, and please remember that 451 degrees Fahrenheit is more than just a book a title....

Among people who might be described as having at least a passing regard for the English language, there are few instances of usage that evoke a desire to mutilate more than the perceived misuse of literally.

No one is yet using figuratively to mean literally; the confusion, such as it is, is all in one direction.

There can be funny moments during sad stories

And so, there is something interesting about the word gove. The OED defines it as “to stare stupidly.” So do Funk and Wagnalls, the Century Dictionary, and the Imperial Dictionary. In fact, every dictionary I have checked defines this word as “to stare stupidly” except for Webster’s Third New International, which defines it as “to stare idly.” I am quite sure that the fact that the editor of Webster’s Third was named Gove had nothing to do with this decision. also.