The Book of Words

by Tim Glynne-Jones

Words have come a long way since they were invented as a nifty tool to help us communicate. We have played with them, made up rules for them, added bits to them and taken bits off. We've gathered them into languages, adopted and defined them, then redefined them. The words we use say so much about who we are, yet most of them slip from our mouths without a second thought. 

"The Book of Words" is a brief pause for reflection in the ever-changing life of words, a snapshot of the English language and how we use it today.

- Long words
- Short words
- Old words
- New words
- Brilliant words
- Annoying words

From the historical to the grammatical, the biographical to the sociological, this is an A to Z of words about words for word lovers, from "aardvark" to "zythum" and beyond.

Genres: Nonfiction

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Tim has been writing professionally since 1985, when he became a wide-eyed journalist on a music magazine. He went on to work for various consumer magazines, including More, Auto Express, Top Gear and Match of the Day, which he launched as editor in 1996. He wrote his first book, A Game of Two Halves - Football Yesterday and Today, in 2002 and has since written over 30 non-fiction titles on everything from football to the English language. In 2018 he self-published Word of the Week: Volume One, his first foray into self-publishing.

Reviews

[Artemis Crescent · Rating 3 out of 5]

A humorous, modern take on the origins of certain words, grammar uses, names, phrases, famous quotes, rhymes, anecdotes and even swearwords, throughout our English-speaking times. It's not very long, and I admit to skimming some of it, but it's worth anyone's intellect. Oh how I love the English language!

Final Score: 3/5

[Bernie4444 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sure, they have Shakespeare. But where is the real wordsmith Ogden Nash

The Eel

I don’t mind eels
Except as meals.
And the way they feel.

- by Ogden Nash

“The Book of Words” compiled by Tim Glynne-Jones is a collection of short articles on words, their origin, and subsequent uses. The index is of some 157 articles from Aardvark to Zythum. There are only 191 pages.

I am sure that you will find the article(s) that will make the book worth the purchase. I found the phonetic alphabet which I always kept posted near the phone for the hard of hearing. Then there is a quick conversion from English to American; just enough words to get a taste but not for practical use. The list goes on. Lots of pictures.