SUBTLE

这更像一本给语言爱好者的「细碎乐趣手册」，而非案头工具书。它专挑那些我们日用却说不清的词：有毒的蘑菇和有毒的蛇究竟怎么区分？堂表亲的隔代关系如何表述？门廊、露台、游廊又各自对应哪种生活？作者以轻松的笔调逐条辨析，配着生动的插画，读来像一场游刃有余的头脑游戏。但读者也毫不留情地指出：许多词条冷门到几乎用不上，内容偏薄，定价略高。因此它适合想随手翻翻、享受「原来如此」时刻的人，而不适合寻找实用辨义指南的读者。它真正的价值，或许不在于帮你用对词，而在于让你重新看见日常语言里那些被忽略的微妙褶皱。

Eli Burnstein is a humor writer whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Slackjaw, Weekly Humorist, The Offing, and Points in Case. He runs a spelling bee (Spelling Bae) that has been featured in the Toronto Star and the National Post, and on CBC Radio.