The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll through the Hidden Connections of the English Language

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There are few things more fun in life than seeing the utterly familiar in a new way. It’s like finding out about your boring work colleague’s criminal record.

Council bosses say Government plans to house migrants at former Dambusters RAF base are 'unlawful' and should be quashed Israel-Hamas war LIVE: Israeli airstrikes destroy 300 targets in Gaza and Lebanon overnight as WHO warns of 'imminent public health catastrophe' Mark Forsyth takes you through an entertaining, amusing, and absolutely enlightening romp through the etymology of words. Hard to explain but better told : And that's so beautiful that nobody will ever better it; even though, to modern ears, it sounds like an invitation from a woman with a raclette*.The word slogan, as in advertising slogan, is an ancient Irish word. Once upon a very long time ago, noble Gaelic warriors would muster for battle on some misty moor. The two armies would face each other, draw their ancient swords, and charge, whilst shouting over and over again their army-cry or slua-gairm. Why I'm telling my daughter to marry RICH: Some might call me anti-feminist, but I wish MY mother had instilled in me how crucial money and status are in a partner... Anyone who says wealth can't buy happiness is kidding themselves! Further people immortalised in the Tube map are a fisherman named Ecgi who is remembered in Edgware Road, meaning the 'road to Ecgi's fishing weir' - while a boatman named Putta lends his name to the Putney stations. I came across the word pancallistic (the adjective) while reading Art and Beauty in the Middle Ages by Umberto Eco. The book's a little dry, but it's beautifully short. As someone who really loves words and their meanings and histories I can't say enough how much I loved this book. I did not want it to end and now I want to find more books just like it. Some things I knew but I learned a lot. The joy is in finding them out so I won't give any away on here.

This is like stand-up comedy about etymology. I absolutely adored it. The book had me laughing within the first five minutes, and from there I was frequently giggling with quite a few bouts of raucous laughter. He also wrote a short chapter, "Who Named All the Cities," [46] for a book compiled by Gemma Elwin Harris called Big Questions from Little People Answered by Some Very Big People. [47] Radio and TED Talk appearances [ edit ] But sometimes the explanation needs a little bit more. If I told you that the buff in film buff is short for buffalo, you would probably remain a little confused as to why. If I added that the phrases in the buff, looking buff, and buff up were all also short for buffalo, the confusion would not alleviated at all. Next stop Cynsige's farm! The unusual origins of Tube station names from Anglo-Saxon farmer behind High Street Kensington to fisherman who inspired Edgware RoadA reviewer in The Daily Telegraph wrote: "From ante-jentacular to snudge by way of quafftide and wamblecropt, at last you can say, with utter accuracy, exactly what you mean." [29] The Horologicon: A Day's Jaunt Through the Lost Words of the English Language is Forsyth's second book and contains "weird words for familiar situations." [3] [27] Many of these words are no longer in use, such as snollygoster, durgeon and frumples. [18] To avoid having his list of words "form what is technically known as a dictionary," [18] Forsyth arranges The Horologicon or Book of Hours [28] according to the hours in a day: [17] [18] [28] [29] [30] from dawn, through breakfast, commuting, office life, shopping, going out drinking and stumbling home. [18] Forsyth believes some of these words should be revived: "Never mind the puzzled looks," he says, "just use them. Throw them into conversation as often as possible." [17] R. Reitzenstein (1897), Geschichte der griechischen Etymologika: ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Philologie in Alexandria und Byzanz (Leipzig; repr. Amsterdam 1964). While there are no written records about Cynsige and very little is known about him, Mr Forsyth told The Times that the local authority 'seems to be garbling their source' because 'ton' means farm, not town.