O Thou Improper, Thou Uncommon Noun

by Willard R. Espy

An etymology of more than one thousand nouns arranged chronologically and by subject

Genres: Reference, Language, Nonfiction, Linguistics, Words

366 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Willard Richardson Espy was a U.S. editor, philologist, writer, and poet.

Reviews

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I return to this book often. Its full title is "Thou Improper, Thou Uncommon Noun: A Bobtailed, Generally Chronological Listing of Proper Names That Have Become Improper and Uncommonly Common; Together With a Smattering of Proper Names Commonly Used...And Certain Other Diversions". Or, as the publisher shortened it for the cover, "An Etymology of Words That Once Were Names". Marvelous, learned, witty, well-ordered, and endlessly browsable. Here's an example: "When the FBI trapped Machine Gun Kelly, he called 'Don't shoot, G-men, don't shoot!" The expression outlasted Machine Gun Kelly. It is commonly considered a shortening of 'Government-man.' But Kelly was recently from Ireland. I believe his mind had leaped back to the secret arm of the British police in Ireland--Section G." R.I.P. Willard.

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 3 out of 5]

A happy story: I started The Lightning Thief, a children's book,and then received this book. The first chapter of O Thou deals with words taken from Greek gods, and each entry in the chapter tells a little about each god and why he was important. The Lightning Thief is the story of a boy who is half-god and he is being sought by many other Greek mythological creatures. O Thou gave me enough info about each god and mythological creature mentioned in The Lightning Thief to help me anticipate events in the story. Very nice.

[Sartor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funn and usyless.