The Curious World of Language: A Guest Post by Joshua Blackburn
Step into the world of language and take a tour of linguistic curiosities — with wit and humor. From quirky idioms to surprising historical facts, this book makes the perfect gift for word nerds, English teachers, writers and anyone who is delighted by words. Read on for an exclusive essay from author Joshua Blackburn on writing The Language-Lover’s Lexipedia.
Hardcover $28.99
The Language-Lover's Lexipedia: An A-Z of Linguistic Curiosities
The Language-Lover's Lexipedia: An A-Z of Linguistic Curiosities
In Stock Online
Hardcover $28.99
Dreyer’s English meets Schott’s Original Miscellany in this delicious tour of the lesser-known wonders of the language world, perfect for language lovers, word nerds, and the incurably curious.
Dreyer’s English meets Schott’s Original Miscellany in this delicious tour of the lesser-known wonders of the language world, perfect for language lovers, word nerds, and the incurably curious.
Later this month, my book, The Language-Lover’s Lexipedia, arrives at Barnes & Noble. It’s a guided tour of the English language – an A-Z of linguistic curiosities, from the history of ‘abracadabra’ to ‘zyzzyva’ and the end of the dictionary.
Had someone predicted this five years ago, I would have laughed into my Cup-a-Soup. But then I never expected to make boardgames about language either, yet that’s what I do – ever since my first game, League of the Lexicon, blew up a few years ago.
This unexpected state of affairs can be traced to 2020, when I was stuck at home with the rest of the world during COVID Lockdown. Frustrated by the English homework my two boys were receiving from school, I invented a quiz game to encourage them to be more curious about language. I started playing it with friends, writing more and more questions, and it became something of an obsession. The pandemic ended, but I kept working on it. It had become more grown-up and challenging but retained its delight in the wonders of language.
Two years later, I launched League of the Lexicon on the crowdfunding website Kickstarter. In three frantic weeks it became the most successful word game in the platform’s history. Then the UK bookchain Waterstones made it their Game of the Month ,and Mensa America made it one of their Recommended Games. Even more extraordinary, luminaries like John McWhorter, Benjamin Dreyer and Stephen Fry said lovely things about it, and it was appearing in The Wall Street Journal, Wired magazine and the BBC.
As the game’s Question-Writer-in-Chief, I’ve been immersed in language. I’ve become a collector of archaic words, an aficionado of slang and an accumulator of linguistic morsels. I would regularly lose myself in the rabbit holes of language, finding new and wonderful things to write questions about. And it was this that led me to The Language-Lover’s Lexipedia.
I’m not a linguist, but I love language. It is the single greatest invention in history; greater than the wheel, gunpowder and sliced bread put together. And English is endlessly fascinating; its origins, mechanics, riddles, quirks, beauty, use… everything. So when I started writing the Lexipedia, I had a world of language to explore.
The Lexipedia isn’t a book about etymology or archaic words – although it contains plenty of both – but about curiosity. Why is the letter K funny? Why can’t we use double negatives? Where does the ampersand come from? How does IKEA name its products? What was the Great Vowel Shift? And on it goes. Such are the questions that have consumed me for the last year, and it’s been a joy. Each morning I’ve woken to something new. Today, pager slang… tomorrow, the language of Yoda, and from there, the Index of Forbidden Books. The English language is pure catnip for anyone with a curious mind. If people enjoy reading this book half as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it then they’re in for a treat.
And if you’re ready to test your knowledge of language, and learn a few things into the bargain, the League of the Lexicon US Edition is arriving at B&N later this month.
Language lovers are in for a good Christmas!