The Horologicon: A Day's Jaunt through the Lost Words of the English Language

by Mark Forsyth

Overview

From Mark Forsyth, the author of the #1 international bestseller, The Etymologicon, comes a book of weird words for familiar situations. The Horologicon (or book of hours) contains the most extraordinary words in the English language, arranged according to what hour of the day you might need them. 

Do you wake up feeling rough? Then you’re philogrobolized.

Find yourself pretending to work? That’s fudgelling.

And this could lead to rizzling, if you feel sleepy after lunch. Though you are sure to become a sparkling deipnosopbist by dinner. Just don’t get too vinomadefied; a drunk dinner companion is never appreciated.

From ante-jentacular to snudge by way of quafftide and wamblecropt, at last you can say, with utter accuracy, exactly what you mean.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101605769
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/01/2013
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	613 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Mark Forsyth is a writer, journalist, proofreader, ghostwriter, and pedant. He was given a copy of the Oxford English Dictionary as a christening present and has never looked back. He is the creator of The Inky Fool, a blog about words, phrases, grammar, rhetoric, and prose. He lives in the UK.

Editorial Reviews

…once you pick up The Horologicon it's hard to put down…Although I'm interested in etymology, I prefer to learn about words I may have some hope of fitting into a sentence. Nevertheless, after just a few pages Forsyth had roped me in with his masterly prose, and I eagerly continued on his guided tour through the museum that is the English language…The Horologicon will be as engrossing for people interested in history and culture as it is for those who love words. It's the best word-themed book I've read in years…

The New York Times Book Review - Mignon Fogarty

Praise for Etymologicon

“The Facebook of books…Before you know it, you’ve been reading for an hour.”—The Chicago Tribune

“A breezy, amusing stroll through the uncommon histories of some common English words…Snack-food style blends with health-food substance for a most satisfying meal.”—Kirkus Reviews

“The stocking filler of the season...How else to describe a book that explains the connection between Dom Perignon and Mein Kampf.”—Robert McCrum, The Observer

“Crikey...this is addictive!”—The Times

“Mark Forsyth is clearly a man who knows his onions.”—Daily Telegraph

“Delightful…Witty and erudite and stuffed with the kind of arcane information that nobody strictly needs to know, but which is a pleasure to learn nonetheless.”—The Independent (UK)

“Witty and well researched…Who wouldn’t want to read about the derivation of the word ‘gormless’? Or the relationship between the words ‘buffalo’ and ‘buff’?”—The Guardian (UK)

From the Publisher