Lost Words: A Feast of Forgotten Words, Their Origins and Their Meanings

by Philip Howard

Genres: Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2012

Reviews

[Richard Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dictionary format compendium of "forgotten words." Each entry is composed of six parts. First, brief definition(s) is/are given. Then a discussion of the word's origin is followed by a rhyme to aid pronunciation. Historical quotes using the word are next cited. Fifth, the author gives a brief discourse on the word. Finally, an "As in" sentence showing possible contemporary usage is presented. The writing is heavily British so it can be difficult for a non-Brit to appreciate at times. Howard attempts to be light-hearted, but occasionally can almost be silly. For example, "Sphragistics: The study or knowledge of seals or signet rings." This followed by "The study seems harmless enough, but the cruelty of the actual engraving process on those harmless marine creatures..." Ugh!! Fortunately, this is quite rare and the book, generally, is informative.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Think I have to declare this one read, even though it's more of a dip-into-when-required sort of book. Is a bit disappointing too, nowhere near the quantity of words which the price tag of £9.99 merited in my humble opinion, i.e. more a snack than a feast. Nevertheless I've used a few words from it and that I don't use more is more down to my lack of good enough memory to hold them.