Word Drops: A Sprinkling of Linguistic Curiosities

by Paul Anthony Jones

If you're logofascinated, you are literally spellbound by language.

This surprising compendium of 1,000 facts about words, language and etymology is here to inspire your curiosity and delight in discovery. In Word Drops, you can delve into a smattering of unexpected connections and weird juxtapositions, stumble upon a new or remarkable word, or learn of many a bizarre etymological quirk or tall tale.

- Did you know that the bowl made by cupping your hands together is called a gowpen?

- And speaking of bowls, the earliest known reference to bowling in English dates from 1555, when bowling alleys were banned by an Act of Parliament.

- And that ties in nicely with the fact that the English called the Germans 'Alleymen' during the First World War.

- But in Navajo, Germany is called Béésh Bich'ahii Bikéyah-or 'metal cap-wearer land'.

Word Drops is a language fact book unlike any other, its linguistic tidbits all falling together into one long interconnected chain just like the example above with each fact neatly 'dropping' into place beside the next.

What's more, throughout, footnotes are used to give some informative and intriguing background to some of the most bizarre facts, covering everything from traditional Inuit games to the origin of the Bellini cocktail, from the precise length of one 'jiffy' to what the Romans thought hoopoe birds ate, and from what to expect on a night out with Dr Johnson to Samuel Pepys's cure for a hangover. Want to know the longest palindrome in Morse code, or who The Great Masticator was? Curious to know what Norwegian steam is, or what a jäääär is? The answers are all here.

For all of the logofascinated among us, this is an immensely pleasurable and unpredictable collection that is guaranteed to raise eyebrows (the literal meaning, incidentally, of supercilious).

'Very jolly and all fascinating stuff. I'm sure it will solve a lot of people's Christmas present problems. Or it certainly should do.' -- Jonathon Green, lexicographer & author of Green's Dictionary of Slang

'Fantastic' -- Moose Allain

'If words were calories, this book would have you breaking the scales. To support my outrageous claim I refer you to urban legends which assert that certain brands of savoury snacks have 'something in them' which makes the brain crave more and more until the whole packet is gone. Whatever that something is, Paul Anthony Jones has imbibed plenty of it before compiling this endearing little book.' -- blogger Richard Littledale

'For the bookish, the wordists, the nerdists, the swots... Paul Anthony Jones has compiled you the most absorbing and fascinating dip-in tome you will find all year ... Word Drops is very much a book to dip in and out of. It's a series of endless (but linked) words, coupled to their origins, meanings and a quantity of footnotes so great that they would put even David Foster Wallace to shame [...] Word Drops is a nerdist's paradise. An intricately researched and elegantly put together collection of wordy nuggets. I challenge you to flick through the book, open it at any page and not find something worth sharing with someone else.' --blogger MadamJ-Mo

'It's hard to imagine anyone not being charmed by this breezy medley of self-contained yet interconnected miscellany. Once you pick up the string, you'll be tempted to keep pulling till you reach the end, and how quickly that takes may depend chiefly on how often you stop to share its contents with a neighbour.' -- blogger Stan Carey

'Joy for the language-addicted!' -- Ian McMillan, Radio Presenter, Writer, Man About Town

'A succinct, charming assemblage of unusual words' -- Greg Jenner, author of A Million Years in a Day

'Brilliant for anyone interested in the effervescent oddness of English' --Stig Abell, Managing Editor, The Sun

Genres: Nonfiction, Linguistics, Language, Writing, Reference, Trivia

224 pages, Hardcover

First published April 16, 2015

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Word Drops – Indeed They Do

“Words Don’t Come Easy to me .....” FR David would never have had to sing those words if he had been give Word Drops by Paul Anthony Jones he would have a plethora of them and even know what they mean and their origin too. This is a lovely addition to anyone’s bookshelves especially those who love words and their origins.

At times I feel like a frumberdling when growing a beard and it looks like it too, so I tend to give it pogonotomy when it is annoying me and I will never need a pocket-tortoise for it either. Oh yes there are so many words we do not know and many that we do and we can indulge in a verbal one up manship with others.

In my colourful life I know a lot of elbow-shakers who would camouflage your face and have a particular funk about them. Oh I could go on about these wonderful words and you will have to read the book to find out what I actually mean. Some may even say they never understand what I write or verbalise; with this book I can now baffle them with words.

There are some interesting vignettes in here, I know spas took their name from the Belgium town of Spa but I did not know that the duffel coat takes its name from the Belgium town of Duffel. I also did not know that in Japan sheep do not baa but say mee, and that a cross between a goat and a sheep is a geep. When I hear the Bee Gee’s hit tragedy I will now know that the word derived for the Greek for goat-song. You can also find out what the most commonly misspelt word is in English and no it is not necessary or parallel!

Word Drop is an excellent little book by Paul Anthony Jones, which is enjoyable, and a book that you can always dive in to and come out sounding like an English Professor. The book lives up to delivering a sprinkle of linguistic curiosities and all of them are very quotable, but a warning, some people may wish you never picked this book, but who cares?

[Abbie Toria · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Jaffareadstoo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've long been fascinated by the power of words and can remember as a child, in primary school, being completely comfortable in English lessons when we were encouraged to do dictionary practise. Looking up the meaning of words is a still something I do on a regular basis, either by using a well thumbed Oxford English Dictionary, the quick reference facility on my Kindle or by browsing the cornucopia of online dictionary facilities.

So, to be asked to review a book, made up entirely of one thousand linguistic and etymological snippets that form one long interconnected chain, was a complete joy.

Word Drops is a language book which completely fascinates and as one word drops into another, a picture emerges, not just of the colourful and quirky use of language, but also of the unique power of words as they have evolved over time.

I absolutely loved this book. It's one of those hidden gems which sits quite comfortably on a book shelf until you need a little nugget of knowledge, and then once you dip into it you will be immediately be enthralled, not just by the goodies on offer, but also the way in which the book is presented. And as each fascinating fact drops into another one, very soon, the diversity and richness of language starts to enthral and really, I promise you, once started, you won't be able to stop to reading.

It would be a really special gift for someone, who, like me, loves the beauty of language, or for anyone who simply wants to know more about words which have long been abandoned.

[Graham Downs · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was amazing! I learnt so much from this book, and it’s so my style. I love the word association, where one definition leads into the next. It reminds me of one of my favourite South African comedians, Alan Committie, who, during his performances, does this thing where he writes a random word on a flip chart, then associates that word with another, then associates THAT word with another, and so on, and so on, until twenty or thirty words later, he comes back to the first word. I’m definitely going to recommend it to him; I think he would get a kick out of it.

There really isn’t anything more to say about this book. It’s right up my street, my cup of tea, whatever other metaphors you want to use. If you’re a logophile like me (a word I learnt from this book), you’ll love it.

Click here to find out where you can get your hands on a copy: https://books2read.com/u/mK62j9

* Note: That's an affiliate link, so if you click through to a store and end up buying anything, I might earn a commission from your purchase.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

So one year, when I was in my late teens, I decided to read the dictionary and write down all the words and their definitions that tickled me. If you're that sort of person, the type of person that really likes the quirks of the english language and it's sayings (and occasionally tongue twisters in other languages) you're going to love this book.

It's cute as hell and chock full of random yet fascinating information.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been known to read dictionaries, so this is just my thing. This is a more enjoyable read, however, as it has a feeling of word association, with terms following on from each other in a very organic way. I only wish I could remember what I've read and scatter obscure phrases into my conversation, but unfortunately I'm too brain dead.

[Lindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it!!! 🥰

[Nathan Albright · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good example of the sort of book that can come easily from the twitter age, and that is a collection of very short texts with some explanation in paragraph form. This is the sort of book that could very easily be assembled from shorter writings, and while that certainly makes the job of collecting a book out of such materials--and as a writer who frequently writes in fairly short packages, I know how easy it is to make a book out of such things--there are occasionally issues where the author repeats himself from one post to another. As this is something I know I am aware of as being an issue in general when one compiles such matters, it is not a big problem, given that most people probably do not read a book like this in one sitting the way I do anyway. If you like linguistic curiosities, and I must admit that I do, this book certainly has a lot to offer, and it encouraged me to look up the twitter feed that the author has and to check it out and maybe even follow it. I consider that a success overall as far as a book is concerned, if it inspires me to look up or read something else.

The organization of this book is a bit difficult to determine. There are no real chapters in the book, which is about two hundred pages long. Rather, the book flits from post to post with very short discussions of odd but generally entertaining linguistic matters, many of which are related from one point to another but where the overall organization is only very loosely connected. So it is, for example, to take a page at random, that we discuss golf and its origins, while then looking at the acronym OMG and LOL (and its french equivalent, dead with laughing, or MDR), after which the author comments on a Victorian slang word for someone who laughed or smiled constantly, a gigglemug, and then a gazingstock as someone who is stared at by everyone else. The whole book consists of this sort of very loose and allusive connections that are tied together mainly by the author's interest in linguistic curiosities and presumably the suggestions of his readers who share the same sort of interest and a love in general of the strange origins of familiar words and expressions or the worthiness of obscure words to be used once again.

One wonders, upon reading this particular book, whether the author will find himself desiring to be more ambitious in later volumes. A book like this shows considerable interest in slang and the history of words and their origins and how they have changed in usage and meaning over time. While there are certainly many people with professional interests in linguistics who enjoy writing about such subjects, it is also true that there are a great many people who read such books, enough to support further efforts along these lines if the author had any interest in doing so. Whether or not that is the case, this book is certainly an interesting one for those who have a sense of wit when it comes to language and appreciate small dribbles of information to drop over a dinner conversation to show oneself as an erudite scholar of language, and that sort of appeal is enough to make this book one I would recommend to those friends who have particularly Nathanish tastes in obscure words or obscure histories of familiar words and expressions, including issues of morse code, acronyms, and the relationship between language and law.

[Ella (The Story Collector) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A compendium of surprising facts about words, etymology and language, presented in an interconnected chain of ‘drops’, each one linking in some way to the one before.

This is a fun read with a wide range of genuinely interesting facts. Some of the most notable for me were:

Almost every instance of the word ‘check’ in English derives from chess.
‘Hair of the dog’ means to cure an ailment by using the cause, originating from the belief that you could cure an animal bite by binding the wound with hair or fur from the animal that bit you.
The plural of octopus is ‘octopode’.
The colour orange was named after the fruit and, before the wider importation of the fruit, there was no word for the colour in English.

I quite liked the presentation, as the order is completely unpredictable so it doesn’t feel too much like reading a dictionary. Although, the lack of any chapters or sectioning does make it quite challenging to read continuously, as there are no natural break points.

[Popup-ch · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of etymological oddities. It originated as a collection of tweets, but for the book form Jones has added a bit more context to some of the tweets. Those are invariably the more interesting parts, and add a lot more depth and meaning.

The book is similar in concept to Etymologicon, by Mark Forsyth, but each individual story is shorter, and not told with quite the same panache as Mr Forsyth.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delightful fun book. Recommend it for anyone who enjoys logofascination. Some of my favorite jewels are: 1) Young pterodactyls are called flaplings. 2) The longest palindrome in the Oxford English Dictionary is tattarrattat. It was coined by James Joyce to represent the sound of a knock on a door. Started listening to Yes or BS podcast by the author.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I follow Haggard Hawks on Twitter, so was pleased to find a book with their discoveries.

Similar to Mark Forsyth, in that the exploration is dictated by connections between words.

[JoAnne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic wee book

I am a fan of information and learning new things and this book certainly has lots of fun facts to help you impress people or win pub quizzes. Fun book.

[Aled Owen-Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

The kind of book that you read on the toilet.

[Asiuol K · Rating 4 out of 5]

l love books about linguistic curiosities. Sue me.

[Richard Howard · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's difficult to review this book really.
It's great for dipping into and you'll learn some fun new words you're unlikely to use.
But at least I now know the collective noun for aardvarks!

[Ronnie Tucker · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK book, but badly laid out on Kindle.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely to pick up for a page or 3 each day, a real ‘dip in’ book!
Fascinating gems & great variety.

[Kaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, but a bit cutesy, sometimes author favors fast wit over thoughtful analysis. Ok as a bathroom book.

[Kait Leeming · Rating 4 out of 5]

One for the #logophiles! This book is a splendid romp through linguistic trivia and curiosities. It’s fab for dipping into when you e a few minutes spare but not enough to engage with a novel or heavy text - think of it as Take A Break for people who love words! Brilliant for a lunch break or commute.

[Ari · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recommend this book to anyone interested in languages and etymology. It doesn't matter if you're into English, or Latin, or Swedish, or German - this book has it all. I loved the concept of short, tweet-like fun facts that were sometimes followed by a little historical background, so that you can decide whether you're interested or not. I bookmarked several pages whilst reading.