Word Smart is perhaps the most pretentious book I own. Or maybe it’s the most ostentatious. Either way, the subtitle is Building An Educated Vocabulary, so it pretty much gives me free reign to be snooty with my grammar. There’s one section about common usage errors that’s pretty good, though, and something that caught my eye was the entry for “anxious.”
ANXIOUS This word properly means “filled with anxiety,” not “eager.” Don’t say you’re anxious for school to end unless the ending of school makes you feel fearful.
Guilty as charged. You’ve humbled me yet again, Word Smart.