A Dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

This dictionary aims to fulfil a unique and useful purpose: to identify pairs of phrases (especially idiomatic phrases) that could be confused with each other and to explain the differences between them. The author identifies students of English as a second language as the primary audience for the work (p. 1). Such a guide to the idiosyncrasies of colloquial English is a welcome addition to the array of available idiom dictionaries, none other of which addresses such subtle pitfalls as the difference between “making a joke about something” and “making a joke of something” (p. 228) or “have a falling...