Awkword Moments: A Lively Guide to the 100 Terms Smart People Should Know

by Ross Petras, Kathryn Petras

A compendium of 100 words and phrases smart people use--even if they only kinda sorta (secretly don't) know what they mean--with pithy definitions and fascinating etymologies to solidify their meanings.Your boss makes a joke about Schrodinger's cat--which is something you've heard of but you're a little vague about what exactly happened (or didn't happen) with that cat. Or you're reading a New Yorker article that explains that "Solecism slipped into solipsism into full-blown narcissistic project." An excellent point . . . if you're sure what "solecism" means . . . or, for that matter, "solipsism." Language gurus Ross Petras and Kathryn Petras to the rescue! In the breezy and entertaining yet informative style of their New York Times bestseller You're Saying It Wrong, they give you a brief rundown on words smart people should know--from the worlds of science and the arts to philosophy, and from broader topics like quantum physics and ontology to more specific ones like Plato's cave and trompe l'oeil. They cover the Latin phrases we hear and read (prima facie, sui generis, and the like) as well as those that have entered our vocabularies from other languages (bildungsroman, sturm und drang). These are the words that, if you were asked directly, "What does this mean?" you might hem and haw and try to change the subject. After reading this book, you won't have to.

Genres: Nonfiction, Language

190 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 10, 2020

Reviews

[Arvilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a beautiful book, well-designed, easy to flip through and a fun, little gift for someone who enjoys words. However, I feel the example sentences could often have been better and I do wish each word came with a pronunciation guide.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This delightful little book is both informative and entertaining. Ross and Kathy Petras, the sibling team behind the “You’re Saying It Wrong” podcast, have compiled a list of words and phrases that we encounter regularly enough to be familiar within but not often enough that we actually remember what they mean. And these aren’t words you only ever see on the SAT — they pop up in mainstream publications like the New York Times, National Geographic, the Wall Street Journal, Hollywood Reporter, etc. Words like recondite, casuistry, opprobrium and hagiography.
Each word is illustrated with an example, followed by a page or two of history, etymology, common misuses (and sometimes pronunciation), then the definition. The writing is funny and engaging, and you don’t feel dumb while learning (or relearning) something about vocabulary.

[Ivan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as good as _You're Saying It Wrong_. The audiobook is sometimes very frustrating because all words are left unspelled, even the strangely-pronounced ones you might not have read anywhere. I sometimes needed three Google searches to find the word being discussed.

Sometimes sloppy:

> implicit coding is coding that’s done for the programmer by other code behind the scenes

which seems like a rephrase of the words on https://www.cloudbees.com/blog/what-i... without an understanding of the programming things involved.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an absolutely delightful book! I seldom read in the bathroom, but this is a perfect book to pick up for just a few pages.

I forgot to count how many of the 100 terms I already knew, but there were very few I didn't know. Those were fun to learn, as I'm a diehard logophile :)

The sister and brother team are witty and their topical references are spot on. I will be gifting this book to a couple of special people who love words as much as I do!

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little essays about 100 words and phrases that puzzle nearly everybody. I knew some -fungible, mea culpa, ubiquitous - and not others -solipsism, teleological - and after reading the little essays, the ones that puzzled me are still going to puzzle me next time I see them.

[Kathryn Bagg · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful discovery for any word nerd. My introduction to Ross and Kathryn Petras. Look forward to reading more.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the words I have never came across before, although there were a few that piqued my interest. Overall, it's a good read.

[Siyka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Always loved to know more about words!

[Moon Captain · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun to flip through. I had wrong ideas about half of the terms so I feel a little sheepish now

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love reading about words and the intricacies of English.

[Peg Albrets · Rating 4 out of 5]

Snarky and fun, plus I learned something!

[Arash Ahsani · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book written by an erudite and an agenda driven leftist

[Sara Goldenberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not sure how they arrived at these specific words. I knew about a third of them and am not positive that they are must-know words for anyone, honestly.