Giving the gifts that keep on gifting

Do you have a lot of people to gift this holiday season? And, if so, are any of them people who might prick up their ears at the previous sentence’s use of the word “gift” or this sentence’s use of “prick”?

Then do I have some good news for you: Today, for the first time ever, I’m publishing the A Word, Please Holiday Grammar Gift Guide for the word nerds, grammar geeks and even the linguistically challenged recipients on your list.

“‘Gift,’ it may be surprising to learn, has acted as a verb since the 16th century,” writes Bryan Garner in “Garner’s Modern American Usage.” And that’s why such “usage” guides are my No. 1 gift recommendation.

Unlike dictionaries and grammar books, volumes such as Garner’s ($39.95), “The New Fowler’s Modern English Usage” ($35) and “Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage” ($27.95) contain alphabetical listings on word usage, grammar issues, punctuation, idioms and almost every question that might pop into an English speaker’s mind. They’re the gifts that keep on gifting.

If the person on your list needs a really good dictionary, here’s something you might want to know: Book publishers and newspaper publishers disagree on which dictionary is the final authority. Most newspapers consider “Webster’s New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition” ($26.95 including a handy CD-ROM) as the final word (and it includes the expression to “prick up one’s ears”). Book editors usually defer to “Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary” ($23.95). So if your recipient is a business person, go with newspaper style. If he or she is a literary type, go with book style.

The same holds true for the major style guides. The Associated Press Stylebook ($17.95) contains the rules that newspapers and therefore most businesses follow. Anyone who writes business letters, press releases or marketing materials should own a copy.

The “Chicago Manual of Style” ($55) is the bible for book publishers. Anyone who aspires to write literature or nonfiction books, or to work in a publishing house, needs a copy of “Chicago.” The two style guides disagree on the serial comma, when to spell out numbers, how to hyphenate, whether it’s “James’ book” or “James’s book” and many, many other points.

Is there someone on your list whose intelligence you’d like to insult this year? Then I recommend any of the “Complete Idiot’s” or “For Dummies” guides. Both series publish books on basic grammar ($16.95 and $19.99, respectively) that are useful and easy to understand, yet whose titles might make you think twice about giving them as gifts.

The classic Strunk and White’s “The Elements of Style” was just re-released as the new “The Elements of Style Illustrated” ($24.95). This little guide has been a mainstay for years and its new hardcover illustrated edition recently hit the bestseller list, but I’ve never been a fan of Strunk and White. Some of their information is just too dated.