O Thou Improper Thou Uncommon

by Willard R. Espy

Book Overview

Etymology of Words That Once Were Names This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0517535114
• ISBN13: 9780517535110
• Release Date: January 1978
• Publisher: Random House Value Publishing
• Length: 366 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A delight to read

The book begins with a warning from the author: "Taken massively, Improper, Uncommon Nouns are dangerous to the health. Try one here, one there. If there are no disagreeable side effects, such as breaking out in a rash, taste again, but sparingly and at intervals. Otherwise you may become seriously ill." Perhaps I have an unusually strong tolerance for nouns, but my only symptom upon reading the first hundred pages at once was a difficulty in putting it down. Espy divides his book into subjects instead of working alphabetically, which allows a natural flow from one definition to the next. This ease of progression, combined with Espy's wit, makes the book read more like a novel than a dictionary.