Whether you're heading for hostels, highways or hammocks this summer, curl up with one of these new books about words.

In "Authorisms: Words Wrought by Writers" ($18), veteran lexicographer Paul Dickson tells the fascinating backstories of words invented by writers. You'll learn that Washington Irving coined the phrase "Almighty Dollar," that John Milton created "pandemonium" for "Paradise Lost," and that William Shakespeare invented "lackluster" for "As You Like It." Charles Dickens first used "butterfingers" to describe an inept ball catcher in "The Pickwick Papers," while Willa Cather pioneered the use of "stuffed shirt" in "O Pioneers!"

Why is punctuation so important? Just consider this sentence: "Jane yelled at the man who took her purse, and grabbed her cell phone to call the police." Without that comma, the man, not Jane, grabbed her phone. You'll find this example in "The Best Punctuation Book, Period: A Comprehensive Guide for Every Writer, Editor, Student, and Businessperson" by June Casagrande ($14). It's the only punctuation guide I know that describes the different editing standards of four literary genres: books, journalism, science writing and academic papers. Book editors, for instance, prefer "The well-known expert spoke," while newspaper editors favor "The well known expert spoke" (no hyphen).

A greeting card company boasts that it always upholds "the highest standards for every detal." A bible reads, "Rejoice and be exceedingly clad!" A departing lawyer emails his colleagues, "It has been a great pressure working with all of you." These are among the hundreds of hilarious bloopers compiled by Drummond Moir in "Just My Typo: From 'Sinning with the Choir' to 'The Untied States'" ($11.99). The fun ranges from headlines ("(Lance) Armstrong Used Rugs") to valentines ("You Are the Most Amazing Love in the Whore World").

Can you rewrite this sentence more concisely: "The light fixture had to be designed in such a manner so as to provide the maximum light to the operating area"? Robert Hartwell Fiske can, and he does in "To the Point: A Dictionary of Concise Writing" ($21.95). His revision: "The light fixture had to be designed to provide the maximum light to the operating area." Fiske offers a glossary of fatuous phrases from "about the fact that" to "zero in on" and suggests shorter synonyms, in these cases, "because" and "pinpoint," respectively.

Happy period of estivation ... er, summer!

Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Conn., invites your language sightings. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via e-mail to [email protected] or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254. To find out more about Rob Kyff and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.