📖 Book Review ~ A Winter Dictionary: A Collection of Words for the Festive Season by Paul Anthony Jones

Elliot & Thompson
24 October 2024

Thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book

As the nights draw in and the cold descends, the winter world emerges – and with it an incredible array of words that superbly capture the season.

From frost-dogs (tiny frozen particles of falling snow) and Stepmother’s breath (a sudden cold snap) to hibernaculum (a winter refuge during the winter months) and crapulent (feeling the aftereffects of overindulgence), Paul Anthony Jones delves into the origins of these rare, fascinating and forgotten words, opening up a whole new way of describing the winter months.

Whether you’re keeping cosy in front of the fire, warding off the winter blues or throwing yourself into the party season, A Winter Dictionary is the perfect way to while away the snow-laden days.

📖 My Review..

I love words, their solid beauty and the way in which language has evolved over time. To have a winter dictionary seems like the perfect idea especially when it’s written and presented in such a lovely way. These books, by this talented wordsmith, are always beautifully presented, from the tactile nature of the beautiful book cover to the immersive, educational and downright fascinating information found within its pages. 

The contents are nicely divided into eleven clear chapters which take us from the changing seasons, through winter storms, ice and snow and further towards Christmas Day and into the snow melts of a new year. The words are well explained and placed in context, all evoke a strong sense of time and place whilst at the same time explaining the meaning of words, all perfectly appropriate, many of which I had never heard before. Some made me smile, some words, no longer in common usage, just seemed really perfect and made me wonder why we had stopped using them and then, of course, there’s the local variations, specific dialect and the gradual evolution of words and phrases which are very much part of our ancestry.

This is definitely the most perfect wintery read, it’s one of those gently fascinating sorts of books which you can just dip into and out of it at whim and by merely opening a page at random you will discover something fascinating you never knew you needed to know. 

About the Author

Paul has a Masters in Linguistics and is a language blogger from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. His obsession with words began with a child’s dictionary he received as a Christmas present when he was eight years old. As @HaggardHawks he has tweeted obscure words since 2013 and now has a social media following of over 75k, including the likes of JK Rowling, Robert Macfarlane, Susie Dent, Richard Osman, Greg Jenner, Ian McMillan, Rufus Sewell, Simon Mayo, Michael Rosen and Cerys Matthews.

HaggardHawks.com brings together the entire HH network including a blog, books, quizzes & games, the 500 Words YouTube series, Instagram gallery and newsletter. He regularly contributes to the media.

Twitter @HaggardHawks #AWinterDictionary

@eandtbooks

 

📖 Book Review ~ Paperback Publication Day ~The Cabinet of Calm by Paul Anthony Jones

📖 Happy Paperback Publication Day 📖 

Elliot&Thompson
Paperback 8 April 2021

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book

Open The Cabinet of Calm and discover a soothing word that’s equal to your troubles…

‘These are words to soothe an unquiet mind. To inspire our creativity. To encourage fellow thinking and community spirit, and to give us fresh hope. In essence, collected here are nothing but kind words, for these unkind times.’

For almost a decade, Paul Anthony Jones has written about the oddities and origins of the English language, amassing a vast collection of some of its more unusual words. Last year, doubly bereaved and struggling to regain his spirits, he turned to words – words that could be applied to difficult, challenging times and found solace. The Cabinet of Calm is the result.

Paul has unearthed fifty-one linguistic remedies to offer reassurance, inspiration and hope in the face of such feelings as grief and despair, homesickness and exhaustion, missing our friends and a loss of hope.

My Thoughts...

This lovely book came into my life when we were facing such a troubled time during the first national lockdown, little did I know that, a year later, we would still be in the grip of this global pandemic which has altered our world forever. I'm delighted to share my review of The Cabinet of Calm on its paperback publication day.

Words can be such a comfort in times of trouble and none more valuable than in this difficult time in which we find ourselves. I have been turning more and more to inspirational verse in order to make sense of a world which seems to have been set completely off its axis.

Opening The Cabinet of Calm is like an emotional toolbox, and peeping inside has soothed my imagination in so many different ways and I have found so much to encourage and ponder over that I have been quite mesmerised by the power of its expression.

In more ways than one, The Cabinet of Calm is a beautifully designed book, not just because its content is so fascinating, I never knew that so much could be expressed in a single word, but also in the perfection of its cover design which is really beautiful to behold. Wonderfully tactile and handily sized so that you can carry the book around with you tucked into a pocket, or a handbag - a handy reference guide when a specific word is needed, like Villeggiaturia, meaning city-weary.

Each of the fifty-one words which make up The Cabinet of Calm will appeal and have meaning and so many times when reading through the book I found myself nodding in appreciation because the word described was just completely right in context.

In these times of countless challenges and so often in last few weeks I have struggled to feel positive, not being able to interact with family and friends has been a heartbreaking struggle, so the chapter entitled, Agathism, which is a word for when you are feeling disillusionment or struggling to remain positive, was a very helpful reminder that all we have to do is wait, "enduring the bad times as best we can, and focusing on the good times that will - no matter how distant they might feel at the moment - eventually return"

Beautifully written, each chapter of The Cabinet of Calm is complete in itself so that this is something which you can easily dip into and out of at whim. If you have a love for the more obscure words in our beautiful language, or even if you are trying to make sense of world which is completely out of kilter, then I am sure that you will find as much to ponder over in this lovely book as I did.

About the Author

Paul has a Masters in Linguistics and is a language blogger from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. His obsession with words began with a child’s dictionary he received as a Christmas present when he was eight years old. As @HaggardHawks he has tweeted obscure words since 2013 and now has a social media following of over 75k, including the likes of JK Rowling, Robert Macfarlane, Susie Dent, Richard Osman, Greg Jenner, Ian McMillan, Rufus Sewell, Simon Mayo, Michael Rosen and Cerys Matthews.

HaggardHawks.com brings together the entire HH network including a blog, books, quizzes & games, the 500 Words YouTube series, Instagram gallery and newsletter. He regularly contributes to the media.

Twitter @HaggardHawks #CabinetofCalmWords

@enandtbooks

 

Blog Tour ~ Cauld Blasts and Clishmaclavers by Robin A. Crawford ☼

☼ Delighted to host today's stop on this blog tour ☼

Elliot and Thompson
20 August 2020

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book

The evocative vocabulary, wit and wisdom of the Scots language – from Robert Burns to Twitter.

Scottish writer and bookseller, Robin Crawford, has gathered 1,000 Scots words – old and new, classical and colloquial, rural and urban – in a joyful celebration of their continuing usage. His amusing, erudite definitions put each of these words in context, revealing their evocative origins and essential character. Delightful line drawings by Scottish printmaker Liz Myhill contribute to this treasury of linguistic gems for language lovers everywhere.

The Scots language is intricately bound up in the nation’s history, identity, land and culture. It is also a living and vital vernacular, used daily. With references to Robert Burns mingling with contemporary examples from Billy Connolly and even Monty Python, Cauld Blasts and Clishmaclavers revels in the richness of one of our oldest languages, and acts as a precious reminder of words that are also beginning to fade away, their meaning and value disappearing.

Clishmaclaver: the passing on of idle gossip, sometimes in a book.

Inkie-pinkie: weak beer.

Sodie-heid: literally, ‘head full of soda bubbles’, airhead.

Smowt: youngster, technically a young trout or salmon but also affectionately applied to a child.

Simmer dim: Shetland term for long summer evenings where due to the northern latitude it never really gets dark.

Dreich: grey, miserable, tedious; usually applied to weather but indicative of the Scots temperament, hence it being voted Scotland’s favourite word in a recent poll (or perhaps indicative of the temperaments of Scots who feel the need to participate in online polls): ‘It’s gey dreich the day'

Ailsa Cock = Puffin

What did I think about it..

Long before relying on spell check on a computer I can remember having school lessons dedicated to how to use a dictionary. Looking up words, and their meanings, was taken very seriously, and I think this useful skill definitley fostered my love of words and their usage. 

This treasury of 1,000 Scottish words has been a real delight to read, easy to peruse whether looking up a specific word, and believe me there are some amazing words I'd never seen before, or, starting at the very beginning with a',aa,or aw which means all, to yowe trummale which means unseasonably cold weather in early summer, something I'm used in the north of England! Incidentally, there's nothing in the treasury beginning with the letter z!

I really did begin at the beginning though and throughout the treasury I discovered words which made me smile, words that I use everyday and words that I had, quite simply, never seen before and which I would hope one day to be able to sneak into conversation - words like breenge which means to plunge and rush, or ficherie which means fiddly, fussy or finicky, and stooshie which is a to-do or commotion.

The rich vernacular that we associate with this lyrical language is fully explored and the author has been very thorough in his research and includes, alongside words and their meaning, some interesting contextual snippets of information about their origin and usage of specific words in literature, rhymes and drama.There's also a bit of a help with some pronunciation which has been especially useful to this Sassenach with how to actually say a specific word - for example, ceud-mille-failte becomes instantly pronounceable as ki-ool-a-meel-a-fell-cha and Slainte/slainte mhath - a term so often used in my favourite Outlander novels, becomes much easier as slange /slan-ja-vah.

Cauldblasts and Clishmaclavers is a fascinating journey through the romantic lyricism of the Scottish vernacular. Intricately exploring its richly evolving history in an easy to use treasury which both educates and entertains in equal measure.

Kellas Cat
A black variant of the Scottish Wildcat associated with witches and ill-luck

About the Author

Born in Glasgow, writer and Scottish bookseller Robin A. Crawford has a particular interest in the culture and natural heritage of his native land. He is the critically acclaimed author of Into The Peatlands: A Journey Through the Moorland Year, longlisted for the Highland Book Prize 2019. He lives in Fife, Scotland, with his wife.

Website

Twitter @RobinACrawford2 #Cauldblasts

@eandtbooks

Blog Tour ~ The Cabinet of Calm by Paul Anthony Jones

I am delighted to open the blog tour for this lovely book

Elliot & Thompson
14 May 2020

Published to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week
18 - 24 May 2020

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book and the invitation to be part of the blog tour

Open The Cabinet of Calm and discover a soothing word that’s equal to your troubles…

‘These are words to soothe an unquiet mind. To inspire our creativity. To encourage fellow thinking and community spirit, and to give us fresh hope. In essence, collected here are nothing but kind words, for these unkind times.’

For almost a decade, Paul Anthony Jones has written about the oddities and origins of the English language, amassing a vast collection of some of its more unusual words. Last year, doubly bereaved and struggling to regain his spirits, he turned to words – words that could be applied to difficult, challenging times and found solace. The Cabinet of Calm is the result.

Paul has unearthed fifty-one linguistic remedies to offer reassurance, inspiration and hope in the face of such feelings as grief and despair, homesickness and exhaustion, missing our friends and a loss of hope.

What did I think about it...

Words can be such a comfort in times of trouble and none more valuable than in this difficult time in which we find ourselves. I have been turning more and more to inspirational verse in order to make sense of a world which seems to have been set completely off its axis.

Opening The Cabinet of Calm is like an emotional toolbox, and peeping inside has soothed my imagination in so many different ways and I have found so much to encourage and ponder over that I have been quite mesmerised by the power of its expression.

In more ways than one, The Cabinet of Calm is a beautifully designed book, not just because its content is so fascinating, I never knew that so much could be expressed in a single word, but also in the perfection of its cover design which is really beautiful to behold. Wonderfully tactile and handily sized so that you can carry the book around with you tucked into a pocket, or a handbag - a handy reference guide when a specific word is needed, like Villeggiaturia, meaning city-weary.

Each of the fifty-one words which make up The Cabinet of Calm will appeal and have meaning and so many times when reading through the book I found myself nodding in appreciation because the word described was just completely right in context. 

In these times of countless challenges and so often in last few weeks I have struggled to feel positive, not being able to interact with family and friends has been a heartbreaking struggle, so the chapter entitled, Agathism, which is a word for when you are feeling disillusionment or  struggling to remain positive, was a very helpful reminder that all we have to do is wait, "enduring the bad times as best we can, and focusing on the good times that will - no matter how distant they might feel at the moment - eventually return"

Beautifully written, each chapter  of The Cabinet of Calm is complete in itself so that this is something which you can easily dip into and out of at whim. If you have a love for the more obscure words in our beautiful language, or even if you are trying to make sense of world which is completely out of kilter, then I am sure that you will find as much to ponder over in this lovely book as I did.

About the Author

Paul has a Masters in Linguistics and is a language blogger from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. His obsession with words began with a child’s dictionary he received as a Christmas present when he was eight years old. As @HaggardHawks he has tweeted obscure words since 2013 and now has a social media following of over 75k, including the likes of JK Rowling, Robert Macfarlane, Susie Dent, Richard Osman, Greg Jenner, Ian McMillan, Rufus Sewell, Simon Mayo, Michael Rosen and Cerys Matthews.

HaggardHawks.com brings together the entire HH network including a blog, books, quizzes & games, the 500 Words YouTube series, Instagram gallery and newsletter. He regularly contributes to the media.

Twitter @HaggardHawks #CabinetofCalmWords

@enandtbooks

In this difficult time do support your local indie book store. These are my local Indies

Broadhurst Book Shop, Southport

Ebb&Flo Book Shop, Chorley

🎄 Review ~ Around the World in 80 Words by Paul Anthony Jones

Elliot&Thompson
October 2018
My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book

From Monte Carlo to Shanghai, Bikini to Samarra, Around the World in 80 Words is a whimsical voyage through the far-flung reaches of the English language.

My thoughts about it..

Reading is always an adventure and, in Around the World in 80 Words, the adventure starts in London with a journey through the English language. Taking us from the derivation of the term, "Kent Street Ejectment", which I have to admit I hadn't heard of, but maybe Londoners have 😊, through to being sent to Coventry, this absorbing etymological exploration, is a cornucopia of fascinating detail.

Like all readers, I have a curiosity with words, not just in speech and modern fiction, but also in the way our language has evolved, and of the diversity of the origins of words in our shared language.

This is one of those engrossing compilations which is easy to dip into and out of, picking a country or a word and then just letting the beauty of both, and the exemplary research, take you into the fascinating and complicated world of the English language.

Eighty stops, from London, to the Vire region of France, the source of the word Vaudeville, through to Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and all parts of Eastern Europe, from Colombo in Sri Lanka, home of Serendipity, to the Brazil nuts of Rio de Janeiro, there is such a wealth of information, not just about the words we have purloined from so many different cultures, but also in the way their use has changed and evolved over time.

I don't travel much, but that doesn't mean I'm not fascinated by different cultures and so the absolute appeal of Around the World in 80 Words, for me, is that I've travelled thousands of miles and learned so much fascinating detail without ever having to ditch my cup of tea, or leave my favourite armchair.

Around the World in 80 Words is a perfect Christmas present for any wordsmith, linguist or book worm.

About the Author

Since 2013 Paul has tweeted a new old word every day. After just six months, HaggardHawks had amassed more than 4,000 followers, been named as one of the best language-based accounts on Twitter, and had been profiled on The Huffington Post. It added its 5,000th follower in August 2014; its 10,000th in June 2015; its 40,000th in August 2017; and its 50,000th in June 2018. 

Supporters range from Stig Abel at the TLS to Susie dent on Countdown, and many famous names follow @HaggardHawks eg Jack Monroe, Rufus Sewell, Simon Blackwell, Robert Macfarlane, Sara Pascoe, Allegra Stratton and David Baddiel.

Website

Twitter @HaggardHawks


@eandtbooks

Blog Tour ~ The Cabinet of Linguistic Curiosties by Paul Anthony Jones

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to be part of the blog tour for The Cabinet of Linguistic Curiosties

Who knows where each day will lead you?

Open The Cabinet of Linguistic Curiosities on any day of the year: you might leap back in time, learn about linguistic trivia, follow a curious thread or wonder at the web of connections brought to you by popular language blogger Paul Anthony Jones.

Within its pages you will discover a treasure trove of language, with etymological quirks and connections for every day of the year.

Here's the fascinating entry for today 20th October..

limitrophe (n.) a borderland, a neighbouring country 

On 20 October 1818, Great Britain and the United States signed a treaty that established the 49th parallel – the line of latitude lying 49° north of the equator – as the permanent land border between the United States and British North America (now Canada). According to the treaty, it was agreed that the border should follow ‘a line drawn from the most north-western point of the Lake of the Woods’ in Ontario, and travel due west along the 49th parallel ‘until the said line shall intersect . . the Stony Mountains’, as the Rocky Mountains were known at the time. 

As part of the deal, both countries agreed to share control of Oregon County (a disputed territory in the Pacific Northwest), with both ceding territory to the other elsewhere: the US handed the northernmost stretches of Missouri Territory, which it had claimed as part of the Louisiana Purchase, to Britain, while in return Britain ceded the southernmost stretches of one its major Canadian territories, Prince Rupert’s Land. The changes marked both countries’ last major territorial losses in North America. 

A borderland, or a neighbouring country on the opposite side of a border, can be known as a limitrophe, a word first used in English in the mid sixteenth century. Although adopted from French (wherein it was once an adjective describing anywhere located on or near a boundary or frontier), limitrophe was originally a Latin word referring to a borderland region set aside for the training and support of troops. In that sense, it combines the Latin word for a boundary line, limitem, with a suffix derived from a Greek word, trophe, meaning ‘nourishment’.

About the Author

PAUL ANTHONY JONES is something of a linguistic phenomenon. He runs @HaggardHawks Twitter feed, blog and YouTube channel, revealing daily word facts to 39,000 engaged followers. His books include Word Drops (2015) and The Accidental Dictionary (2016). His etymological contributions appear regularly, from the Guardian to the Telegraph, Buzzfeed to Huffington Post and BBC Radio 4.

Follow on the Blog Tour on Twitter @HaggardHawkes #ForgottenWords @eandtbooks

My thoughts about the book

Elliot & Thompson
October 2017

If you have a fascination for words, and most readers seem to like individual words almost as much as they like lists of words, then The Cabinet of Linguistic Curiosities will appeal, not only to your sense of fascination, but will also appeal to your sense of order and which ever way you choose to read the book, there will always be something which intrigues, educates and amuses.

There's something about words which soothes my soul and to have chance to take a look at words which have fallen out of common use and yet, when seen, still make the utmost sense, I am reminded of those people who have gone before and of the rich contribution they have made to our vocabulary.

Of course like any sensible person who likes books with daily musings in, I turned, at first, to those notable dates in my life and those of my family and found some hidden little gems. 

Amongst the strange and forgotten words there are some real beauties to be discovered. Some made me smile, others made me nod my head in sage agreement, whilst others made me realise just how beautiful is our language.

Amongst my favourites are:

17 April : Pisgah - which is a view or glimpse of something which is unobtainable or unreachable. Rather like my dream to be a extra on the set of Outlander 😔

19 May : Spousebreach - which means adultery. I mean, could that be any more apt?

31 May : Tell-clock - something or someone who marks or tells the time; an idler. I think we have all known people like that !

And my very favourite from my grandmother's birthday , 4 December : Premonstrance : which means a portent or omen.

My feeling is, that if words float your boat as much as they float mine,  then I will premonstrate that this book will work just as well for you as it did for me.

Huge thanks to Alison at Elliot & Thompson for her kind invitation to be part of this blog tour and also for my review copy of The Cabinet of Linguistic Curiosities.

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Review ~ The Accidental Dictionary by Paul Anthony Jones

The remarkable twists and turns of English words

Elliot&Thompson
2016

A bit of blurb..

Our everyday language is full of surprises; its origins are stranger than you might think. Any word might be knocked and buffeted, subjected to twists and turns, expansions and contractions, happy and unhappy accidents. There are intriguing tales behind even the most familiar terms, and they can say as much about the present as they do the past.

My thoughts..

 Like all voracious readers I fell in love with the power of words once I was old enough to understand the importance of a good vocabulary. At primary school I had teachers who instilled the fundamentals of good grammar, punctuation and spelling, so that by the time I left primary school, aged eleven, my reading age was quite  advanced.

My love of words has lasted throughout the whole of my life. I enjoy reading a good list, and to have a fascinating plethora of words all contained in one sparkly volume has been a real delight. The Accidental Dictionary focuses on the etymological origins of 100 words that are in common usage but whose meanings were once very different to what we know today. If you want to flip through the book at whim, which is what I did, then a really good content list allows you to choose at random the hidden gems which nestle on every page.

Take the original meaning of Flirt, which popped into the English language around the late Middle Ages as an onomatopoeic word meaning to flicker or flit, and then by the 1500s it had evolved into an entirely different connotation, that of, to sneer scornfully. It wasn’t until the mid-1600s that flirt came to be used more romantically in a term which described the way that ladies flirted coquettishly with their elaborate fans.  However, I think my favourite evolution of the word has to come in 1755 when Samuel Johnson defined flirt in his Dictionary of English Language to mean ‘a pert young hussy’. Hence, by the mid-1800s, the term flirting had evolved into the word we are quite familiar with today.

The dictionary starts and ends with Affiliate and Zombie, with the other 98 words, in-between, being equally as absorbing.  All are presented in fascinating randomness, and in a clear and concise way their origin meaning is emphasised along with the word’s fascinating evolution.

The Accidental Dictionary is a real hidden gem of a book which will sit comfortably on my book shelf just waiting patiently until I need to know the original meaning of a word.

Did you know that the original use of oaf was elf, or to be more precise, an impish hobgoblin?

Somehow "Oaf on the shelf" doesn’t have quite the same festive connotation, does it? Or maybe it does...I'll let you ponder that one!!

Best read with…a firkin of good English ale, strong and sweet…

About the Author

Paul Anthony Jones is a writer, etymologist and language blogger. He is the author of several books on trivia and language. A piano teacher and musician , he lives in North East England.

Follow on Twitter @HaggardHawks

My thanks to Alison at Elliot & Thompson for my review copy of The Accidental Dictionary.



~***~