Amide bond formation is a fundamentally important reaction in organic synthesis, and is typically mediated by one of a myriad of so-called coupling reagents. This critical review is focussed on the most recently developed coupling reagents with particular attention paid to the pros and cons of the plethora of "acronym" based reagents. It aims to demystify the process allowing the chemist to make a sensible and educated choice when carrying out an amide coupling reaction (179 references).