Wordcatcher: an Odyssey into the World of Weird and Wonderful Words

Description

Intro; Praise; BOOKS BY PHIL COUSINEAU; Title Page; Dedication; Epigraph; Acknowledgements; Introduction; A; ABRACADABRA; ABSURD; ACADEMY; ACCOLADE; ADUMBRATE; AFTERMATH; AGONY; ALLEGORY; AMAZON; AMUSE; ANIMATEUR; APHILOPHRENIA; ARACHIBUTYROPHOBIA; ARGONAUT; ASSASSIN; ASTONISH; ASTRAL; ATHLETE; ATLAS; AUGUR; AWARE; B; BAFFLE; BAKSHEESH; BAMBOOZLE; BANDERSNATCH; BARBARIAN; BATHOS; BEAUTY; BEDSWERVER; BEKOS; BERSERK; BEWILDER; BIBLIOTHÈQUE (FRENCH); BONA FIDE; BONDMAID; BOONDOCKS; BORBORYGMUS; BOUDOIR; BRICOLEUR (FRENCH); BROADCAST; BROWNSTUDY; BUCCANEER; BUDGET; BULL; BUMMER; BUNDLING; C;Who knew that the great country of Canada is named for a mistake? How about ""bedswerver, "" the best Elizabethan insult to hurl at a cheating boyfriend? By exploring the delightful back stories of the 250 words in Wordcatcher, readers are lured by language and entangled in etymologies. Author Phil Cousineau takes us on a tour into the obscure territory of word origins with great erudition and endearing curiosity. The English poet W.H. Auden was once asked to teach a poetry class, and when 200 students applied to study with him, he only had room for 20 of them. When asked how he chose his stud. Intro Praise BOOKS BY PHIL COUSINEAU Title Page Dedication Epigraph Acknowledgements Introduction A ABRACADABRA ABSURD ACADEMY ACCOLADE ADUMBRATE AFTERMATH AGONY ALLEGORY AMAZON AMUSE ANIMATEUR APHILOPHRENIA ARACHIBUTYROPHOBIA ARGONAUT ASSASSIN ASTONISH ASTRAL ATHLETE ATLAS AUGUR AWARE B BAFFLE BAKSHEESH BAMBOOZLE BANDERSNATCH BARBARIAN BATHOS BEAUTY BEDSWERVER BEKOS BERSERK BEWILDER BIBLIOTHÈQUE (FRENCH) BONA FIDE BONDMAID BOONDOCKS BORBORYGMUS BOUDOIR BRICOLEUR (FRENCH) BROADCAST BROWNSTUDY BUCCANEER BUDGET BULL BUMMER BUNDLING C CAHOOTSCALCULATE CALM CAMERA CANADA CANOODLE CANT CAPPUCCINO CATAWAMPUS CATCH CHANTEPLEURE (FRENCH) CHARACTER CHICANERY CHIRM, CHYRME CLICHÉ CLOUDERPUFFS COMPANION CONTEMPLATE CONVERSATION COOL CORNUCOPIA CRAIC (IRISH) CRAZY CRUISE CUSHLAMOCRE (IRISH) D DAMN DASTARDLY DAYMARE DELPHIC DESULTORY DICTIONARY DINOSAUR DRACHENFUTTER DUDE DUENDE (SPANISH) DUNCE DUPE E ECLIPSE ELDRITCH ENCYCLOPEDIA ENIGMA ENTHUSIASM EPIPHANY ESPÉRANCE (FRENCH) ESPRIT DE L'ESCALIER (FRENCH) F FADO (PORTUGUESE) FALSE FRIEND FIREDOG FLÂNEUR (FRENCH) FLIRT FLIZZEN FLOCCINAUCINIHILIPILIFICATIONFLOUNDER FOCUS FORNICATE FORTUNE FREELANCE FRIBBLE FUNGO FURY G GALAXY GLAMOUR GLEE GLOM GNOME GODSEND GORGEOUS GORGONIZE GOSSAMER GRAMMAR GREGARIOUS GROGGY GYASCUTUS GYMNASIUM GYNOTIKOLOBOMASSOPHILE H HAPPY, HAPPINESS HECKLE HERO HIP, HEP, HIPSTER HOAX HONEYMOON HOPSCOTCH HYPERBOLE HYPOCRITE I ICONOCLAST IDIOT IGNORASPHERE INSOLENT J JAZZ JINX JUGGERNAUT (HINDI) JUKE K KALEIDOSCOPE KAVLA (TURKISH) KENNING KERFUFFLE KIBOSH (IRISH) KINEPHANTOM KITE L LABEL LABYRINTH LACONIC LADY LAGNIAPPE LOGROLLING LOUCHE LOVELULLABY M MEERSCHAUM MELANCHOLY METAPHOR MONDEGREEN MUM MURMUR MUSE MYTHOSPHERE N NEMESIS NOCTAMBULATION NOSTALGIA NUMINOUS O OBFUSCATE OSTRANENIE (RUSSIAN) P PANACHE PERIPATETIC PETRICHOR PHANTASMAGORIA PHONY POCHADE (FRENCH) POLTROON PORTMANTEAU PREPOSTEROUS PRETZEL PROTEAN PUBLISH PUN PUSILLANIMOUS Q QUICK QUIRKY QUIZ R RANKLE RASA (HINDU) REBATE RED-HANDED REMORSE RHAPSODY RIVAL S SALARY SARDONIC SAUDADE (PORTUGUESE) SAUNTER SCAPEGOAT SCHEDULE SCOOCH OR SCOOTCH (SCOTTISH) SCRUTINIZE SEEKSORROW SHANGHAI SKEDADDLE SKEW SKYLARKING SLANGSLOGAN SNEAK SORCERER SPOONERISM STIGMA STORY POLES SULKY SUTURE SWAFF T TABOO TEST, TESTAMENT THESAURUS THOLE THRILL TOPSY-TURVY TRANSLATION TRAVEL TRIVIA TROPHY U UNTRANSLATABLE URCHIN V VANILLA VAUDEVILLE VENERATE VERBICIDE W WABI/SABI (JAPANESE) WEASEL WORD WEIRD WHATCHAMACALLIT WHISTLE WISDOM WIT WORDFAST WRITE WRITHE X XENOGENESIS XENOPHILIA Y YEARN YELLOW DOG CONTRACT YOUTHY YUMA (CUBAN-SPANISH) Z ZAFTIG (YIDDISH) ZEMBLANITY ZEPHYR ZITCOM ZOMBIFICATION THE TEN MOST BEAUTIFUL WORDS SOURCES AND RECOMMENDED READING AFTER TALE