The Weird World of Words: A Guided Tour

by Mitchell Symons, Andrew Pinder (Illustrator)

Did you know that ‘Almost’ is the longest word in the English language with all of its letters in alphabetical order? Or that ‘Stewardesses’ is the longest word you can type solely with your left hand? Or that fireflies aren’t actually flies, they’re beetles? From information about words and their uses, to useful lists of things you never knew had names, palindromes, famous lines from literature and film, bizarre test answers and more, The Weird World of Words is bursting with truly oddball facts about words and language – and will have you hooked from the very first page. Author Mitchell Symons was a principal writer of early editions of the board game Trivial Pursuit and is the author of over sixty books.

Genres: Nonfiction, Language, Reference, Linguistics, Writing

192 pages, Paperback

First published May 26, 2015

Reviews

[MKF · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not all about words which I thought it was. It also has facts about the english language but they are the ones commonly found in other books and online as well. Also included were strange headlines, strange book titles, stupid things people say or write, bumper sticks, and even tounge twister just to name a few of the many things found in this book. This book is really just a hodgepodge of random stuff and though I found myself laughing it was not really what I expected.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up because my dad has gotten me really interested in word origins and trivia. In fact, I passed it along to him afterwards so he could read it too. It's a fun little trip through various areas of word trivia, humor, and origins. Nothing really in depth, and word trivia nerds will likely not find anything really new here, but fun nonetheless.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book for long car trips.

Interesting Quotes:

"Genuine responses given by mothers to the child support office - "I am unsure as to the identity of the father of my baby. After all, when you eat a can of beans you can't be sure which one made you fart.""

[Dulcie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very entertaining!

[Carolyn]

Very interesting and enertaining

[Mrthink · Rating 4 out of 5]

I studied etymology in college and thought this would be along the lines of what I studied and learned. But I found that I had to put the book down numerous times from laughing so hard that tears were pouring down my face. It's amazing how some can corrupt the english language (or, how some minds work in conjunction with their mouths and pens). I found this to be a very fun book to read.

[Amber Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book of word-centered trivia.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read that had me laughing out loud several times.

[Stephanie Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was interesting, but it wasn’t all about words, which is what I thought it would be. I did learn a lot, though, which was nice.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of wordplay and weird words and sayings. This book is for dipping into from time to time. I read the most interesting parts of this book and enjoyed them tremendously.

[Gerald Matzke]

The title describes this book well. It would be a treasure trove for trivia fans. It was a quick, fun read. Some day when some obscure word comes up in conversation, I will be able to tell the story behind it if I can remember. Chances are I won't. This was a good break from the kinds of books I usually read.

[Zest Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A trivia lover's feast of language factoids, from lists of palindromes and mondegreens to how dogs' barking is represented in different languages." —Tampa Bay Times

[Colin Buck · Rating 2 out of 5]

About as interesting as a book of lists can be. Many similarities to Tyrannosaurus Lex by Rod Evans.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the sort of book a adore-a book of lists, and even better, the lists are about words! The English major in me was so happy as I tore through this book. Fascinating.

[Robert Noll · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting trivia book sprinkled with lists that have circled the Internet since the days of Al Gore. Some of the entries appear to come from a searchable dictionary.

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun. Just wish I could remember a fraction of these words.

[Trish Graboske · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected better. Some information was new and interesting, but in many instances, the author had mined the Internet for lists, and most of them I had seen.

[Carolyn Venne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of interesting info for those who love words. some was pointless.

[Georgiy Isaev · Rating 4 out of 5]

for me, not a native speaker, some of stuff appeared to be useful. some expressions I'd already known the time I red it. BTW, 'orange' could be goddam rhymed!