Word Perfect: Etymological Entertainment For Every Day of the Year
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-04-16 13:57:17
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Susie Dent
- ISBN：1529311519
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
Welcome to a year of wonder through the English language with Susie Dent， lexicographer extraordinaire and queen of Countdown's Dictionary Corner。
From 'Turning a Blind Eye' （Nelson putting the telescope to his missing eye to ignore the order to stop fighting） to why May Day became a distress call; from stealing someone's thunder to the real Jack the Lad， from tartle （forgetting someone's name） to snaccident （unintentionally eating a whole packet of biscuits）， Word Perfect is her brilliant linguistic almanac full of unforgettable true stories tied to every day of the year。 You'll never be lost for words again。
From 'Turning a Blind Eye' （Nelson putting the telescope to his missing eye to ignore the order to stop fighting） to why May Day became a distress call; from stealing someone's thunder to the real Jack the Lad， from tartle （forgetting someone's name） to snaccident （unintentionally eating a whole packet of biscuits）， Word Perfect is her brilliant linguistic almanac full of unforgettable true stories tied to every day of the year。 You'll never be lost for words again。
Reviews
Whispering Stories
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Book Reviewed on www。whisperingstories。comWord Perfect from Susie Dent is a book filled with words you either don’t often hear these days or the original meaning behind these words has long been forgotten。 The book is set out in a diary format， so that you have one word a day， beginning on New Years Day with the word ‘Crambazzled’ which in old Yorkshire dialect means to be prematurely aged through excess drinking， a word a lot of people could use on the 1st January。I love finding new words and s Book Reviewed on www。whisperingstories。comWord Perfect from Susie Dent is a book filled with words you either don’t often hear these days or the original meaning behind these words has long been forgotten。 The book is set out in a diary format， so that you have one word a day， beginning on New Years Day with the word ‘Crambazzled’ which in old Yorkshire dialect means to be prematurely aged through excess drinking， a word a lot of people could use on the 1st January。I love finding new words and some are intriguing such as ‘Choreomania’ which is the compulsion to dance。 What’s more， is that every word not only has a definition but it also contains information about its origins and a factual story about something related to it。 In this case， in 1374 in the town of Aachen， Germany it is recorded that the citizens congregated en masse and began to dance uncontrollably。This is a book that will fill those who love to learn and gain knowledge with giddy excitement。 365 words， their origins， meanings， and factual information contained in one book written in an easy-to-understand style， and with the diary format you could choose to learn one new word a day。 Although I’m not quite accurate in saying just one word a day or 365 words as each word often has others contained within the information that is related to the given word， so in fact， you are getting a lot more than you would expect。I enjoyed learning about the words。 Whether they will stay in my head and I remember to use them as and when the time arises is a different matter。 The book is very British and there will be words that those around the world will never have heard of。 There are also some that British people will never have heard of because they are regional words never heard outside of their city of origin or mean something different in different parts of the country。Overall， this is a book for those who love etymology and want to broaden their range。 。。。more
Matt Whitby
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A fun book。 Hundreds of words that were new to me， but sadly I won't remember a single one。 A fun book。 Hundreds of words that were new to me， but sadly I won't remember a single one。 。。。more
Valerie Sells
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An interesting read and easy to 'hear' Susie Dent's voice in it as I went along。 Always interested in where words and phrases come from and some of the orgins were really surprising！ Some entries were slightly less riveting， especially when I didn't know the word/phrase in the first place， but all-in-all， quite an enjoyable read。 An interesting read and easy to 'hear' Susie Dent's voice in it as I went along。 Always interested in where words and phrases come from and some of the orgins were really surprising！ Some entries were slightly less riveting， especially when I didn't know the word/phrase in the first place， but all-in-all， quite an enjoyable read。 。。。more
Alina
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it felt like it took forever to read this - 365 words is actually quite a lot of words to explore。 regardless I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was so interesting。 susie dent is unbelievably knowledgeable。 many of the chapters were funny and charming; the ‘fuck’ chapter （perhaps predictably） actually made me laugh out loud multiple times - “and there I did see him putting the great fuck upon my weef” is one of the greatest sentences I’ve ever read
Sarah Jackson
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"Word Perfect" is a highly entertaining， word-a-day book， by the lexicological master， Susie Dent。 Dent describes the origin and meaning of various words and phrases - some in common use， others not。 One for lovers of language。 "Word Perfect" is a highly entertaining， word-a-day book， by the lexicological master， Susie Dent。 Dent describes the origin and meaning of various words and phrases - some in common use， others not。 One for lovers of language。 。。。more
Shelley Nightingale
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I love that this book is a daily habit for me now， a word a day from Susie is not only informative & interesting but often humourous too！
Linda Whitney
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Liked book， but with reservationsI love entomology and the origin of phrases so I quickly snagged this book。 I can relate to the author as I was also an odd child， carrying books everywhere I went。 Since this is a daily look at words it doesn’t get very in depth with each one。 It often trails off into meanings of other words without skipping a beat which was a little confusing。 Since the author is British she included many words and sayings that most Americans had never heard。
Helen Palmer
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My inner geek linguist loved it。 Abflaut reduction rocks！
Pippa
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If words aren't your thing you probably would't pick this up so no surprise that it gets such good reviews。 I will admit I haven't yet completed it being the sort of thing you dip into rather than read like a novel。 I just wish my brain was better at remembering more of those words and phrases。 If words aren't your thing you probably would't pick this up so no surprise that it gets such good reviews。 I will admit I haven't yet completed it being the sort of thing you dip into rather than read like a novel。 I just wish my brain was better at remembering more of those words and phrases。 。。。more
Book collector
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If you are interested in words， in their meaning and origins then this is the book for you。 Packed with information on obscure and in many cases surprisingly useful words it's a fascinating and fun read from susie dent。 Great to dip into or read thoroughly in a couple of sittings。 Very enjoyable。 If you are interested in words， in their meaning and origins then this is the book for you。 Packed with information on obscure and in many cases surprisingly useful words it's a fascinating and fun read from susie dent。 Great to dip into or read thoroughly in a couple of sittings。 Very enjoyable。 。。。more
Rachel
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Hopefully I can find occasions to drop words like 'bumbershoot' and 'pandiculate' into everyday conversation。。。 Hopefully I can find occasions to drop words like 'bumbershoot' and 'pandiculate' into everyday conversation。。。 。。。more
Angela
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It’s tempting to call Susie Dent a walking dictionary， but she’s more often seen sitting at a desk， mostly on the quiz show Countdown， where she has been the resident lexicographer in Dictionary Corner since 1992。The publication of her latest book caused something of a stir， as the initial print run contained numerous errors; an unfortunate irony， given its title: Word Perfect。 The author had sent the final proofs for correction， but somehow the editing process failed， with Covid measures blamed It’s tempting to call Susie Dent a walking dictionary， but she’s more often seen sitting at a desk， mostly on the quiz show Countdown， where she has been the resident lexicographer in Dictionary Corner since 1992。The publication of her latest book caused something of a stir， as the initial print run contained numerous errors; an unfortunate irony， given its title: Word Perfect。 The author had sent the final proofs for correction， but somehow the editing process failed， with Covid measures blamed for a glitch in the system。 New copies were hastily printed， minus typos， though perhaps those in the original print run might end up as collectors’ items。 Susie posts a word a day on Twitter， so her editor at publishers John Murray suggested that she could compile these entries in a compendium and the result is Word Perfect: Etymological Entertainment for Every Day of the Year。 An assortment of words， familiar and unfamiliar， are presented， in date order。 For example， the entry for January 1st is crambazzled， an old Yorkshire word meaning prematurely aged from heavy drinking， referencing the “morning after” state revellers suffer after seeing the New Year in。 It’s an unusual word to start the year， but the following entry is one we more readily associate with January: the two-headed Roman god Janus， who gave his name to the month。 This format means that the book doesn’t have to read in strict order， or even from cover to cover。 It would be fine to leave out sections you find unappealing and fast forward to a more interesting bit。 （Just like I do when Joe Wilkinson turns up on 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown。） It’s full of interesting titbits that you can dip into， like a selection box of biscuits， choosing those that take your fancy and skipping over the others。 As such， this is a form of light entertainment which could provide a welcome diversion during life in lockdown。 Word Perfect: Etymological Entertainment for Every Day of the Year Currently available in hardback priced £14。99。 Publishers John Murray 。。。more
Darren
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This is funny， enlightening and entertaining。 Easy to pick up at random or binge on。 Highly recommended！
Kerry Pickering
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Excellent book for those underused words in the English language。 Loved dipping in every day。
Hannah Lewis
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Lovely book。 Love Susie Dent。
C。Edwards
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OK so I haven't read it all yet， I'm cheating。 I cannot wait nearly another year to review the book though， it is by design a book to dip in to day by day。 It is excellently researched and written and a joy to read。 There are 'words of the day'and these are anchored to historical events & people significant to the day。 It's interesting， informative and just a joy to visit every day。 I highly recomend this OK so I haven't read it all yet， I'm cheating。 I cannot wait nearly another year to review the book though， it is by design a book to dip in to day by day。 It is excellently researched and written and a joy to read。 There are 'words of the day'and these are anchored to historical events & people significant to the day。 It's interesting， informative and just a joy to visit every day。 I highly recomend this 。。。more
Julie
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