Click here to read Robert Hartwell Fiske's Dictionary of Disagreeable English.

Robert Hartwell Fiske's Dictionary of Disagreeable English is a continuing project to compile a dictionary of misused, misspelled, and mispronounced words and phrases. Today's popular dictionaries often fail to define these words correctly or to distinguish between them; some dictionaries even maintain that one word means the same as another simply because people who do not know the correct meanings of the words confuse them. Robert Hartwell Fiske's Dictionary of Disagreeable English — a supplement to whatever dictionary you own or use — is an attempt to combat this nonsense, to return meaning and distinction to the words we use.

Robert Hartwell Fiske's Dictionary of Disagreeable English is free for Vocabula subscribers to read. As soon as we finish coding, it will also be available to nonsubscribers who pay the $3.95 daily fee, the $10.95 monthly fee, or the $25.95 yearly fee.

This will be an expanded version of Fiske's Dictionary of Disagreeable English; we will continually add entries and commentary to this online version.

Here are a few reviews of the book on which this online version is based:

However curmudgeonly, Mr. Fiske betrays a bluff humanitarian spirit. ... [Fiske] wants to save [the English language]. And he knows that he can count on little help. Dictionaries "have virtually no standards, offer scant guidance, and advance only misunderstanding." His own flogging of Merriam-Webster's is one of the many pleasures of this lovely, sour, virtuous book. — Wall Street Journal

(For) people who get a delicious kick out of getting incensed at loosey-goosey usage. — William Safire, New York Times

I recently purchased your Dictionary of Disagreeable English, a delightful little book with a somewhat depressing, big message. I find myself chuckling from page to page. Thanks for the entertainment! — Teresa Jones

We will continue to look to you for guidance and help in preserving the elegance of the English language. — Christel Marin

Please accept my congratulations on a wonderful and very useful book. — Frank Boccia

I'm enjoying the heck out of Disagreeable English. — Ron Harris

As a technical writer, I consult your Dictionary of Disagreeable English often, to "insure" that my documents don't fall "pray" to lazy language. — Tristan MacAvery

The Dictionary of Disagreeable English was one of my favorite Christmas presents this season. — Ralph Shelton

This reference book is excellent! Thank you, Robert Hartwell Fiske. — Gary B. Larson

As Fiske illustrates in his book, dictionaries are not what they used to be. Prominent dictionaries, including the vaunted Merriam Webster, have increasingly resorted to including nonstandard English, i.e. improper English, in their texts, all in the name of recording English as it is used, rather than how it should be used. Fiske attacks this concept of "descriptivist" as inexcusable. Although I admit that English does evolve, I am firmly in Fiske's camp — dictionaries should champion proper English, not popular English. After reading this book, you may find yourself taking up arms in Fiske's war as well. ... If you are a fellow grammar geek/word nerd, you will adore this book. You will laugh at Fiske's biting wit and you will cry at some of the most foul atrocities that were committed against the English language in the examples provided. The Dictionary of Disagreeable English is the perfect way to both amuse and educate yourself. — Zella Kate Solomon

We also welcome your suggestions of misused, misspelled, and mispronounced words and phrases. Email your suggestions to Robert Hartwell Fiske.

Click here to read Robert Hartwell Fiske's Dictionary of Disagreeable English.