Weird and Wonderful Words

Book Overview

Weird and Wonderful Words is a pot-pourri, a gallimaufry, a salmagundi, a treasure trove of colourful, quirky, and unusual words. Containing hundreds of definitions written in a clear and conversational style and full-page illustrations which offer a whimsical and hilarious view of our glorious language. Amuse yourself and entertain your friends with your knowledge of who a snollygoster or a Funambulist may be, what a humdudgeon or a nubbingcheat was, or why you might want to engage in catopromancy. Appendices include a bibliography of Oxford's dictionaries and a guide to creating your own unusual words correctly from Greek and Latin roots. The perfect stocking filler and gift book, Weird and Wonderful Words is sure to be a favourite of logophiles (word lovers) everywhere.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195159055
• ISBN13: 9780195159059
• Release Date: October 2002
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.77 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

Meet the colorful and strange side of English.

This informative, entertaining and amusing reference explains the meaning of hundreds of the most bizarre, astonishing and interesting words that, although technically a part of the English lexicon, have been laid aside from our everyday conversations and are now forgotten and waiting to be found. Organized alphabetically in a dictionary format, each entry, written in a conversational style, provides a clear definition of a specific word. It often includes the word's origin, and sometimes it's accompanied by a humorous drawing that serves to illustrate both the word's meaning and its usage. The book also contains a few particular and very funny sections that deal with groups of related words: anatomical terms, names of illnesses, words that begin with the letter "x," and words that end in "logy," among others. Another hilarious section is "How to Create Your Own Weird and Wonderful Words," intended as a practical guide to help you coin your own unusual vocabulary by using Greek and Latin roots and loose linguistic rules to insure the most legitimate sounding spellings and pronunciation. As a bonus, especially for those of us interested in doing some further reading, the author also supplies a list of web sites that feature the history and curiosities of the English language, and a list of Oxford dictionaries and reference books. The only thing missing from this volume is a pronunciation guide, otherwise it is the perfect way to discover, by either direct consultation or casual browsing, the unusual words like ascesis, passiuncle and illywhacker, that decorate our language. This book is a must-buy for word enthusiasts or trivia lovers alike. --Reviewed by Maritza Volmar

Fun

I leave this one in the Bath room people get a kick out of the diffrant words.Very interesting.(ammusing)

A Foray into Logodaedaly

Word lovers should find this book highly entertaining. The selected words include some of my personal favorites, and a great many words completely new to me, some of which are new favorites. The illustrations are ho-hum and may lead many readers to wish the space had been used for more words. Luckily, the compiler plans a collection of weirder and wonderfuller words, which will be given some prosaic title by the publisher.One caveat: there are some racy entries, not enough to spur sales, but enough to give the book an X rating in some households and a PG-13 in many. Too bad, as the book would otherwise be an excellent inspiration for many a young wordsmith. Perhaps the compiler can be persuaded to gather a similar collection of words, like "googol", of interest to children and adults alike. If only this collection had been just a shade more verecund!I'll let you buy the book if you want to know the precise meanings of logodaedaly and verecund.

Oh so close to perfect!

This is a fantastic book for the logophile! It contains plenty of odd, unusual, rare, and otherwise interesting words, along with their definition. A pleasant layout and humorous illustrations keep the book on the lighter side. While there are a number of such books available, this stands out with supplementary materials such as "How to create you own weird and wonderful words," "A Webliography of Weird and Wonderful Word Sites," and "The Logophile's Bibliography."My only complaint is that there is no pronunciation included with each entry. This is a relatively small issue, and the only thing keeping the book from a 5-star rating.

I got it for a gift, but I'm keeping it!

I saw this book in the New York Times Language column and thought it would make a great gift for my dad, who loves words and crossword puzzles. I started flipping thru it and got hooked. The words aren't boring or stuffy at all, even though a lot of them are long (my favorite was zedonk, the chlid of a donkey and a zebra) and the cartoons are really funny, too.I only wish there were more words in it. Maybe they'll do a Weird Words 2. I'm going to keep this one and order another one for my dad.