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Can you beat Gyles Brandreth? Put your English language skills to the test

Gyles Brandreth, author of the bestselling good grammar guide Have You Eaten Grandma?, knows a thing or two about the English language. Take his quiz to see if you are Monarch of the April Fools or merely the court jester. 

01 April 2019
Have You Eaten Grandma?

  • Have You Eaten Grandma?

  • Pedantic about punctuation or scrupulous about spelling? You'll love this hilarious and definitive guide to 21st century language from grammar-guru Gyles Brandreth

    'Brilliant, clear, entertaining, very funny and often outright silly. Brandreth excels . . . in all his linguistic joie de vivre' Guardian
    __________

    Why, like, does everyone keep saying 'like'?

    Why do apostrophe's keep turning up in the wrong place?

    Why do we get confused when using foreign phrases - and vice versa?

    Is it 'may be' or 'maybe'? Should it be 'past' or 'passed'? Is it 'referenda' or 'referendums'?

    FFS, what's happening to our language!?

    Our language is changing, literacy levels are dwindling and our grasp of grammar is at crisis point, so you wouldn't be alone in thinking WTF! But do not despair, Have You Eaten Grandma? is here: Gyles Brandreth's definitive (and hilarious) guide to punctuation, spelling, and good English for the twenty-first century.

    Without hesitation or repetition (and just a touch of deviation) Gyles, the Just A Minute regular and self-confessed grammar guru, skewers the linguistic horrors of our time, tells us where we've been going wrong (and why), and reveals his tips and tricks to ensure that, in future, we make fewer (rather than 'less') mistakes. End of.

    (Is 'End of' alright? Is 'alright' all right? You'll find out right here . . . )

    'Best thing ever, laugh-a-lot, spanning everything. Great book, I'm loving this' Chris Evans, BBC Radio 2

  • Buy the book

Gyles Brandreth

Gyles Daubeney Brandreth is an English theatre producer, actor, politician, journalist, author and TV presenter. Born in Germany, he moved to London at the age of three and, after his education at New College, Oxford, he began his career in television. He went from presenting Puzzle Party in the 1970s, to appearing in Countdown's Dictionary Corner for over 300 episodes. His career has since encompassed becoming an MP and appearing regularly on TV and radio, but writing is his true passion. His past books include; Word Play, Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations and Breaking the Code: Westminster Diaries.

Gyles Brandreth

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