Anguished English is a book by Richard Lederer that provides humorous examples of how the English language is misused. It includes mistakes made by native and non-native speakers, mistranslations, and mondegreens. The book can be used to teach grammar and spelling errors, but should not be read in public or before bed.
Anguished English is a 1987 book published, compiled and written by Richard Lederer, which also evaluates and provides many examples of how the English language is routinely butchered by native and non-native English speakers. His examples, many from student essays, headlines from around the world, classified ads, and famous quotes, are sure to make you laugh non-stop. In fact Anguished English proved so popular that Lederer followed up this successful first book with several sequels, including More Anguished English and The Bride of Anguished English.
In addition to providing hours of entertainment, particularly for verbivores, defined by Lederer as word eaters, Anguished English and its sequels certainly provide a delightful way of educating people about the mistakes so easily made by language travel, mixed metaphors and misquoting. . . The books are not intentionally instructive or preachy, but they can be said to teach by example of “how not to”. Some of the interesting examples Lederer provides are a little daring for younger children, but for the PG-13 audience, or at least the PG audience, these examples serve as wonderful jumpstarts for teaching a variety of grammatical errors, such as divided infinitives. or spelling mistakes that completely change the meaning of a sentence.
A favorite section of many is the one that includes examples of English mistranslated by foreign speakers. This section has actually spawned devotees looking for various mistranslations in foreign countries. One site in particular is mostly dedicated to the extensive use of English in Japan, it has numerous pictures, signs, and advertisements that are made amusing by their English translations.
Of course, while there is Anguished English, there are also numerous ways English-speaking countries have decimated foreign languages. A classic example was the failed marketing and stagnant sales of the Chevy Nova in 1970s South America and Mexico. The car was a good automobile, but in Spanish-speaking countries its name translated to ‘no go’, not exactly a name to inspire brand confidence.
Teachers have long cornered the market by reading about various student mistakes that can inspire big misunderstandings and hearty laughs, and Anguished English can be a fantastic gift for these folks. Lederer, in his book and its sequels, has paved the way for anyone to enjoy such errors, whether they occur in student essays, church bulletins, medical reports, or court records. He also devotes a section to mondegreens, frequent misunderstandings of song lyrics, including the American anthem, where the opening line can be sung as “Jose, can you see?”
There are some precautions to appreciate Lederer’s work. Don’t read these books alone in public unless you want people to think you’re just plain weird and prone to spontaneous laughter for no reason. Don’t read Lederer’s books if you’re trying to fall asleep; subjects are likely to promote wakefulness rather than sleepiness. Also, you may want to wait a few days to learn Anguished English if you just had your appendix removed. While laughter is usually painless, hearty laughs and belly laughs can give your stomach too much of a workout!
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