Reviews
"Linguipotence ("mastery of language," according to its coiner and soleuser, Samuel Taylor Coleridge) and zoilist ("faultfinder," eponymously descendedfrom a cranky ancient grammarian named Zoilus), come from Erin McKean's MoreWeird and Wonderful Words, her second collection of lexical oddities (Oxford,$16.95).Nothing could be easier, you might think, than opening an old dictionary andplucking out a few hundred obsolete words, but McKean has an eye for the goodones, both nasty and nice. Had English taken a different turn, cosmeticssaleswomen might be offering to infucate your face; luckily, "make up" becamethe term of art. It's surprising, though, that the powder pushers haven'tadopted the chic French-derived job title McKean suggests: They might bevisagistes!"--Boston Globe, "McKean, senior editor for the Oxford University Press North American Dictionary Project, has gleaned some fascinating words for our enjoyment....A welcome addition."--Library Journal Lexicographer McKean, editor ofVerbatimmagazine, has combed theOxford English Dictionaryto come up with more than 400 choice items for this amusing dictionary of rarely used words. Perhaps youve recently been guilty of acrasia ("the state of mind in which you act against your better judgment"). Perhaps you need a new synonym for "slut": Drazel will do quite nicely. Or perhaps youve been offended but are willing to offer the guilty party ignoscency ("forgiveness"). You may never find a reason to use the word "dromaeognathous" ("having a palate like that of an emu"), but just encountering it here could brighten your day.New Yorkercartoonist Shanahan adds a touch of whimsy to the enterprise with his comic illustrations. Lighthearted and instructive, this small volume would make a good gift book for eccentric wordsmiths or grammarians.--PublishersWeekly.com "As everyone knows, the words marked obsolete or archaic in unabridged dictionaries are the best words of all. In More Weird and Wonderful Words (Oxford Univ., $16.95), edited by Erin McKean, with illustrations by Danny Shanahan, the dazzled reader will learn that 'bloncket' means 'gray, or a light grayish blue' and 'infrendiate' to 'gnash the teeth' and 'discerp' to 'tear something to shreds.' This is clearly the ideal resource when feeling a certain 'delassation' (i.e., fatigue) with the plain, homespun language of everyday life. Besides isn't it good to know that a 'musophobist' is 'a person who regards poetry with suspicious dislike' and a 'rhyparographer' a 'painter of unpleasant or sordid subjects'?"--Washington Post Book World, "As everyone knows, the words marked obsolete or archaic in unabridgeddictionaries are the best words of all. In More Weird and Wonderful Words(Oxford Univ., $16.95), edited by Erin McKean, with illustrations by DannyShanahan, the dazzled reader will learn that 'bloncket' means 'gray, or a lightgrayish blue' and 'infrendiate' to 'gnash the teeth' and 'discerp' to 'tearsomething to shreds.' This is clearly the ideal resource when feeling a certain'delassation' (i.e., fatigue) with the plain, homespun language of everydaylife. Besides isn't it good to know that a 'musophobist' is 'a person whoregards poetry with suspicious dislike' and a 'rhyparographer' a 'painter ofunpleasant or sordid subjects'?"--Washington Post Book World, Lexicographer McKean, editor of Verbatim magazine, has combed the Oxford English Dictionary to come up with more than 400 choice items for this amusing dictionary of rarely used words. Perhaps youve recently been guilty of acrasia ("the state of mind in which you act against your betterjudgment"). Perhaps you need a new synonym for "slut": Drazel will do quite nicely. Or perhaps youve been offended but are willing to offer the guilty party ignoscency ("forgiveness"). You may never find a reason to use the word "dromaeognathous" ("having a palate like that of an emu"), but justencountering it here could brighten your day. New Yorker cartoonist Shanahan adds a touch of whimsy to the enterprise with his comic illustrations. Lighthearted and instructive, this small volume would make a good gift book for eccentric wordsmiths or grammarians.--PublishersWeekly.com, "Linguipotence ("mastery of language," according to its coiner and sole user, Samuel Taylor Coleridge) and zoilist ("faultfinder," eponymously descended from a cranky ancient grammarian named Zoilus), come from Erin McKean's More Weird and Wonderful Words, her second collection of lexicaloddities (Oxford, $16.95).Nothing could be easier, you might think, than opening an old dictionary and plucking out a few hundred obsolete words, but McKean has an eye for the good ones, both nasty and nice. Had English taken a different turn, cosmetics saleswomen might be offering to infucate your face; luckily, "make up"became the term of art. It's surprising, though, that the powder pushers haven't adopted the chic French-derived job title McKean suggests: They might be visagistes!"--Boston Globe, "...for a present that is jocoserious but not entirely glaikery, try More Weird and Wonderful Words. It'll certainly allow you to ephorise the holiday games of Scrabble, and have everyone kenching; those with a penchant for trivia will find it illecebrous. And you'll discover what an ilspileis. Same as a cirogrille, a hercheon, a tiggy and a furze-pig, of course."--Financial Times, Lexicographer McKean, editor of Verbatim magazine, has combed the OxfordEnglish Dictionary to come up with more than 400 choice items for this amusingdictionary of rarely used words. Perhaps youve recently been guilty of acrasia("the state of mind in which you act against your better judgment"). Perhaps youneed a new synonym for "slut": Drazel will do quite nicely. Or perhaps youvebeen offended but are willing to offer the guilty party ignoscency("forgiveness"). You may never find a reason to use the word "dromaeognathous"("having a palate like that of an emu"), but just encountering it here couldbrighten your day. New Yorker cartoonist Shanahan adds a touch of whimsy to theenterprise with his comic illustrations. Lighthearted and instructive, thissmall volume would make a good gift book for eccentric wordsmiths orgrammarians.--PublishersWeekly.com, "....Word junkies will enjoy this, along with the funny illustrations byNew Yorker cartoonist Danny Shanahan."--Pittsburg Post Gazette, "McKean, senior editor for the Oxford University Press North American Dictionary Project, has gleaned some fascinating words for our enjoyment....A welcome addition."-- Library Journal Lexicographer McKean, editor of Verbatim magazine, has combed the Oxford English Dictionary to come up with more than 400 choice items for this amusing dictionary of rarely used words. Perhaps youve recently been guilty of acrasia ("the state of mind in which you act against your better judgment"). Perhaps you need a new synonym for "slut": Drazel will do quite nicely. Or perhaps youve been offended but are willing to offer the guilty party ignoscency ("forgiveness"). You may never find a reason to use the word "dromaeognathous" ("having a palate like that of an emu"), but just encountering it here could brighten your day. New Yorker cartoonist Shanahan adds a touch of whimsy to the enterprise with his comic illustrations. Lighthearted and instructive, this small volume would make a good gift book for eccentric wordsmiths or grammarians.-- PublishersWeekly.com "As everyone knows, the words marked obsolete or archaic in unabridged dictionaries are the best words of all. In More Weird and Wonderful Words (Oxford Univ., $16.95), edited by Erin McKean, with illustrations by Danny Shanahan, the dazzled reader will learn that 'bloncket' means 'gray, or a light grayish blue' and 'infrendiate' to 'gnash the teeth' and 'discerp' to 'tear something to shreds.' This is clearly the ideal resource when feeling a certain 'delassation' (i.e., fatigue) with the plain, homespun language of everyday life. Besides isn't it good to know that a 'musophobist' is 'a person who regards poetry with suspicious dislike' and a 'rhyparographer' a 'painter of unpleasant or sordid subjects'?"-- Washington Post Book World, "Erin McKean, an Oxford University Press dictionary editor, here has addedmore than 400 obscure and almost all utterly delightful words to the 400 or sothat appeared in 'WWW' last year. The definitions and commentaries she adds aresophisticated, charming and instructive. Spend an hour with this volume and justtry not to go forth and ornament the vocabulary of every friend and kin. A greatnerve tonic if you like words and are feeling low."--The Austin-AmericanStatesman, "As everyone knows, the words marked obsolete or archaic in unabridged dictionaries are the best words of all. In More Weird and Wonderful Words (Oxford Univ., $16.95), edited by Erin McKean, with illustrations by Danny Shanahan, the dazzled reader will learn that 'bloncket' means 'gray, or alight grayish blue' and 'infrendiate' to 'gnash the teeth' and 'discerp' to 'tear something to shreds.' This is clearly the ideal resource when feeling a certain 'delassation' (i.e., fatigue) with the plain, homespun language of everyday life. Besides isn't it good to know that a 'musophobist' is 'aperson who regards poetry with suspicious dislike' and a 'rhyparographer' a 'painter of unpleasant or sordid subjects'?"--Washington Post Book World, "McKean, senior editor for the Oxford University Press North American Dictionary Project, has gleaned some fascinating words for our enjoyment....A welcome addition."--Library JournalLexicographer McKean, editor of Verbatim magazine, has combed the Oxford English Dictionary to come up with more than 400 choice items for this amusing dictionary of rarely used words. Perhaps youve recently been guilty of acrasia ("the state of mind in which you act against your better judgment"). Perhaps you need a new synonym for "slut": Drazel will do quite nicely. Or perhaps youve been offended but are willing to offer the guilty party ignoscency ("forgiveness"). You may never find a reason to use the word "dromaeognathous" ("having a palate like that of an emu"), but just encountering it here could brighten your day. New Yorker cartoonist Shanahan adds a touch of whimsy to the enterprise with his comic illustrations. Lighthearted and instructive, this small volume would make a good gift book for eccentric wordsmiths or grammarians.--PublishersWeekly.com"As everyone knows, the words marked obsolete or archaic in unabridged dictionaries are the best words of all. In More Weird and Wonderful Words (Oxford Univ., $16.95), edited by Erin McKean, with illustrations by Danny Shanahan, the dazzled reader will learn that 'bloncket' means 'gray, or a light grayish blue' and 'infrendiate' to 'gnash the teeth' and 'discerp' to 'tear something to shreds.' This is clearly the ideal resource when feeling a certain 'delassation' (i.e., fatigue) with the plain, homespun language of everyday life. Besides isn't it good to know that a 'musophobist' is 'a person who regards poetry with suspicious dislike' and a 'rhyparographer' a 'painter of unpleasant or sordid subjects'?"--Washington Post Book World, "....Word junkies will enjoy this, along with the funny illustrations by New Yorker cartoonist Danny Shanahan."--Pittsburg Post Gazette, "McKean, senior editor for the Oxford University Press North American Dictionary Project, has gleaned some fascinating words for our enjoyment....A welcome addition."--Library Journal Lexicographer McKean, editor of Verbatim magazine, has combed the Oxford English Dictionary to come up with more than 400 choice items for this amusing dictionary of rarely used words. Perhaps youve recently been guilty of acrasia ("the state of mind in which you act against your better judgment"). Perhaps you need a new synonym for "slut": Drazel will do quite nicely. Or perhaps youve been offended but are willing to offer the guilty party ignoscency ("forgiveness"). You may never find a reason to use the word "dromaeognathous" ("having a palate like that of an emu"), but just encountering it here could brighten your day. New Yorker cartoonist Shanahan adds a touch of whimsy to the enterprise with his comic illustrations. Lighthearted and instructive, this small volume would make a good gift book for eccentric wordsmiths or grammarians.--PublishersWeekly.com "As everyone knows, the words marked obsolete or archaic in unabridged dictionaries are the best words of all. In More Weird and Wonderful Words (Oxford Univ., $16.95), edited by Erin McKean, with illustrations by Danny Shanahan, the dazzled reader will learn that 'bloncket' means 'gray, or a light grayish blue' and 'infrendiate' to 'gnash the teeth' and 'discerp' to 'tear something to shreds.' This is clearly the ideal resource when feeling a certain 'delassation' (i.e., fatigue) with the plain, homespun language of everyday life. Besides isn't it good to know that a 'musophobist' is 'a person who regards poetry with suspicious dislike' and a 'rhyparographer' a 'painter of unpleasant or sordid subjects'?"--Washington Post Book World, "Erin McKean, an Oxford University Press dictionary editor, here has added more than 400 obscure and almost all utterly delightful words to the 400 or so that appeared in 'WWW' last year. The definitions and commentaries she adds are sophisticated, charming and instructive. Spend an hour withthis volume and just try not to go forth and ornament the vocabulary of every friend and kin. A great nerve tonic if you like words and are feeling low."--The Austin-American Statesman