In his relentless campaign to drag slang out of the sewer and brothel, and into the drawing-room and academy, Green has no rival. He is the Dr Johnson of slang, its Putin, its Mr Toad, its Dickens.

[Green's] kaleidoscopic memoir charting three decades exploring our mother tongue's more exotic margins is vigorous, gonzoid, learned and entertaining.

This memoir of a life spent exploring the grubby margins of the English language reveals plenty about both that language and Green himself.

[A] rollicking memoir.

Unusual… Moving… Magnificent.

A new fascinating exploration of the words that Americans and Brits both use and how they can have different meanings altogether… Moore is a very engaging writer… an excellent springboard for more research into the history of our magnificent and maddening language.

The ocean that divides England and America is awash with linguistic wreckage and cultural tumult. But Erin Moore’s study of these infested waters is serene, assured and hugely entertaining. They should hand her book out at border control.

One thing that makes Gowers such an engaging figure is that he isn't prissy, priggish or prim. As far as he is concerned, language is a living thing that is constantly changing - and this is just as it should be

Still the best book on English and how to write it ... Unhappy with versions rewritten by others, Rebecca Gowers, Sir Ernest's great-granddaughter, has produced a new edition ... The result is splendid ... Gowers wrote with wit, humanity and common sense ... [his] central advice should be taped to the screen of anyone sitting down at a computer keyboard

The book has been modernized but preserves all its original charm ... There is arguably a greater need for its circulation among the general public [than ever before]

The zeal with which Sir Ernest uncovers error is matched only by the wit with which he chastises it

I am glad that attention should be continually drawn to copies of this book ... I am in full sympathy with the doctrine laid down by Sir Ernest Gowers

A delight, a classic of its kind

Great fun to read

Brilliant

A sweetly reasonable and wholly admirable guide

It will delight far wider circles than those to whom it is primarily addressed

Personal and affectionate tribute

Affectionate, familial tribute to this many-sided man.