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    Dictionary of Fine Distinctions: Nuances, Niceties, and Subtle Shades of Meaning
    Dictionary of Fine Distinctions: Nuances, Niceties, and Subtle Shades of Meaning
    Dictionary of Fine Distinctions: Nuances, Niceties, and Subtle Shades of Meaning
    Ebook230 pages1 hour

    Dictionary of Fine Distinctions: Nuances, Niceties, and Subtle Shades of Meaning

    By Eli Burnstein

    2.5/5

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    About this ebook

    "This delightful book is a tribute to the genius of the human mind for conceptual precision and the beauty of the English language in capturing it. It resolves a great deal of puzzlement over confusable terms, and its endearing illustrations and lighthearted explanations multiply the satisfaction." —Steven Pinker, author of The Language Instinct and Rationality

    What’s the difference between mazes and labyrinths? Proverbs and adages? Clementines and tangerines? Join author Eli Burnstein on a hairsplitter’s odyssey into the world of the ultra-subtle with Dictionary of Fine Distinctions. Illustrated by New Yorker cartoonist Liana Finck, this humorous dictionary takes a neurotic, brain-tickling plunge into the infinite (and infinitesimal) nuances that make up our world.

    The perfect gift for book lovers, word nerds, trivia geeks, and everyday readers, this illustrated gem is more than just a book—it is an indispensable resource akin to a thesaurus but filled with charm and wit. Each entry, from “latte vs. flat white" to “Great Britain vs. The United Kingdom," is accompanied by mnemonic aids, quirky asides, and detailed illustrations, making it a standout dictionary for any bibliophile or language enthusiast's library.

    For fans of The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows or Foyle's Philavery: A Treasury of Unusual Words, Dictionary of Fine Distinctions promises to be a cherished addition to the genre that offers clarity, joy, and a deeper appreciation for the subtleties of the English language. The quintessential librarian gift and English teacher gift, it’s an educational odyssey that’s as entertaining as it is enlightening.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherUnion Square & Co.
    Release dateApr 9, 2024
    ISBN9781454959298
    Dictionary of Fine Distinctions: Nuances, Niceties, and Subtle Shades of Meaning

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      Book preview

      Dictionary of Fine Distinctions - Eli Burnstein

      Introduction, Foreword, or Preface

      Which is it?

      Everywhere we look, we’re confronted by sneaky differences. That couch you’re sitting on, is it more of a sofa? That cappuccino in your cup, how is it different from a flat white?

      And it’s not just the physical world, either. Do moral dilemmas differ from ethical ones? If we make an assumption, do we presume it as well? What about strategy and tactics? Proverbs and adages? Which of these terms is more accurate—or should we say, more precise?

      With Dictionary of Fine Distinctions, we put life under the microscope, teasing irony apart from sarcasm, driving a wedge between gullies and ravines, exposing goblins, ogres, and trolls to the harsh sunlight of analysis. The result? Crisp, sparkling clarity.

      Each entry offers a sort of mental taste test—a Pepsi Challenge, even—serving up two or more commonly confused phenomena and a brief description of what makes them different.

      Thank God, there are also illustrations.

      And not just any illustrations. Simple yet thoughtful, carefully wrought yet rippling with charm, they’re the handiwork of the one and only Liana Finck, whose nervy lines have helped me to crystallize ideas in ways that words never could.

      Of course, I should immediately clear my throat and say: Reality is messy. So while I have tried to single out differences as surgically as possible, regional variations in usage and the ever-shifting nature of language (not to mention my own fallibility) mean that I won’t hit the bull’s-eye for everyone at all times. Plus, some things are just fuzzy.

      A final, dewy-eyed note: As you flip through the book, my hope is that you’ll walk away not just with a clearer grasp of a hundred or so fine distinctions, but with a deeper appreciation for the inexhaustible subtlety of life—for the infinite and infinitesimal nuances that turn up everywhere we look. Louis MacNiece put it well, writing that

      World is crazier and more of it than we think,

      Incorrigibly plural. I peel and portion

      A tangerine and spit the pips and feel

      The drunkenness of things being various.

      Eli Burnstein

      P.S. Prefaces deal with incidental topics like the book’s origin, scope, and limits, while introductions tend to kick off the subject matter proper and at greater length and generally feel more essential to the work.

      Page numbers are a good giveaway: Standing outside the main text, prefaces usually feature lowercase Roman numerals (i, ii, iii) while introductions inaugurate the Arabic ones (1, 2, 3) that continue for the remainder of the book.

      As you can tell, this is a preface.

      Forewords, finally, are easier to spot, as they’ve been written by someone else—usually a well-known personage whose name is advertised on the cover to lend the book credibility. The most auxiliary of all, forewords come before prefaces, which, in turn, come before introductions.

      Please don’t hold the lack of a foreword against me.

      Happy hairsplitting.

      Emoji vs. Emoticon

      ADVANCED DISTINCTION

      An upright and more elaborate style of emoticon originating in Japan.

      Symphony vs. Concerto

      In a symphony, the whole orchestra plays more or less together.

      In a concerto, a soloist plays somewhat apart from, and in dialogue with, the broader orchestra.

      That’s why it’s often called a piano concerto or a violin concerto: The star instrument is explicitly called out.

      Deep Web vs. Dark Web

      The deep web refers to web pages that don’t show up in search results but which may be viewed if you’re logged in to the website in question.

      The dark web refers to websites accessible only through special anonymizing software and consisting largely of illegal activity.

      The Fine Print

      Deep web examples include email inboxes, personal banking account pages, company intranets, and the contents of academic and scientific databases.

      Dark web examples include drug, weapons, data, and sex trafficking platforms; child pornography sites; and whistleblowing, activism, and communications tools for dissidents in countries where free speech is restricted.

      It is estimated that the surface web makes up about 4 percent of the total content on the internet, while 90 percent is the deep web and 6 percent the dark web, though estimates vary.

      Great Britain vs. United Kingdom

      Great Britain is a geographical term referring to a single island or landmass.

      The United Kingdom is a political term referring to the country made up of England, Scotland, and Wales (which together make up Great Britain), together with Northern Ireland.

      Envy vs. Jealousy

      To Have and Have Not

      Envy is an unhappy longing for the possessions or qualities of others, while jealousy is an excessive guarding of the attentions one currently enjoys—whether love, sex, or friendship—typified by an undue suspicion of others and possessiveness over the person or people granting those attentions. Even God, who wants all the worship to himself, gets jealous:

      You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord … am a jealous God.

      —Exodus 20:5

      USAGE NOTE

      Despite the protestations of some, jealous can also be used to mean envious (You’re going to France? Jealous.) and has a centuries-old record of doing so. This makes sense when you consider that the two terms’ opposing positions—one of wanting but not having, the other of having but risking losing to another—are often slippery and interchangeable.

      Bay vs. Gulf vs. Cove

      Latte vs. Flat White vs. Cappuccino vs. Cortado

      All four espresso drinks contain steamed milk, but in different amounts: Lattes are the largest and milkiest, while cortados are the smallest and strongest.

      Where things get complicated is with the middle two. Cappuccinos might be slightly bigger than flat whites or vice versa—or, gallingly, one might contain a single rather

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