Fowler

The surname Fowler has become an eponym for certain kinds of advice on the usage of the English Language. This is because of the influence of the two brothers, H.W. and F.G., who began their careers as schoolteachers and went on to become lexicographers (the first editors of the Concise Oxford Dictionary, for example,

When used by itself - "Look it up in Fowler" - the word usually refers to:

• A Dictionary of Modern English Usage, (1926) by H.W. Fowler.

Sometimes it refers to an earlier book by the same author and his brother F.G. Fowler,

• The King's English (1906).

Do not confuse the spelling Fowler (the occupational surnames derived from 'one who catches [wild]fowl, or birds') with fouler, the comparative of the adjective foul.