Endangered Words: A Collection of Rare Gems for Book Lovers [Kindle Edition]

Simon Hertnon (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Afterwit, agathism, ambsace, anacampserote, antepenultimate, antimony, and more!

“When a word perfectly captures a human truth, humans respond to it
in the same way that they respond to a beautiful melody. They smile.
They nod their heads. They tell others of their discovery.” So says
Simon Hertnon in his introduction to Endangered Words, and
after wrapping your tongue around the lexical rarities he offers up to
his readers, you’ll have to agree! Hertnon provides one hundred
hand-selected rarities, and, in a virtuoso display of concinnity and logodaedaly, breathes life into them with his lucid descriptions of their meaning and engaging examples of their usage.

Thanks to Endangered Words,
you no longer have to be at a loss for words or reach for the clichéd
and commonplace. The English language is brimming with ambrosial
alternatives, and this compendium offers the cream of the crop.

Filled with words to be treasured for their elegant precision, from anacampserote to sprezzatura to zemblanity, Endangered Words
is the perfect handbook for writers, an excellent resource for
communicators, and an entertaining read for anyone with an appetite for
the very brightest gems of the English language.

About the Author

Simon Hertnon, after studying linguistics at Victoria University of Wellington, began writing about his observations on life for newspapers and magazines. He lives in New Zealand.

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 2792 KB
• Print Length: 224 pages
• Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing (July 27, 2009)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B002N2YMYS
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #479,719 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

I have been writing, in one form or another, since I completed my BA in Linguistics from Victoria University of Wellington in 1989.

My greatest professional joy is to uncover simple solutions to significant problems so, as a writer, it is no surprise that I felt highly motivated to tackle the crippling issue of poor written communication skills.

The other major issue that captivates my attention is (for want of a better label) unwise human activity. At a time in history when we should be slowing down to enjoy our good fortune and to wisely plan for the future, we are instead busily just doing stuff -- creating, manipulating, consuming, wasting -- without due consideration of the effects of our actions. I think we assume that we're somehow making things better, but we're not, we're making things worse for ourselves, our children, and for future generations.

For many years I have been trying to fathom why we act so unwisely and I have distilled what I have learned into a Theory of Universal Human Needs. I know it sounds pompous, but the title is accurate and the content, at just 72 words, is anything but pompous.

And though I greatly value academic study and authorship, my theory is clearly not an academic one. But does that make it less helpful? I don't think so, but you can decide for yourself. And that's the key to my theory: accessibility -- anyone can read it and critique it, which is surely essential for a theory that is attempting to identify and understand universal human needs.

So my approach relies on brevity and natural philosophy (observation, contemplation, logic), and my simple hope is that it proves useful. I have, in any case, put a peg in the ground.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining book, November 29, 2009

By 

JNPMLS (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Endangered Words: A Collection of Rare Gems for Book Lovers (Paperback)

This is an entertaining book. It adds a little color to learning new words. I disagree with the author's use of the word "experimentally" as a baseline comparison for determining rarity. As an engineer, I admit bias; however, my utilization of "experimentally" goes back to high school science labs. Otherwise, a good book. Note that the author does ramble a lot about his personal opinions; there is a subsection under each titled "why I like the word." I can see why some might object to it; however, it can serve as another means to remember a new word, which is, after all, the reason someone should be reading Endangered Words.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Christmas Gift for the Professor, December 21, 2009

By 

Betty Butwell (Grand Rapids, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Endangered Words: A Collection of Rare Gems for Book Lovers (Paperback)

I bought this for the Professor~~who has an English Major! He uses some words I never heard and now I'd like to give back to him some words he "might" not have ever heard or used! He has a way with words and I love it!! He will definitely put them to use and share them all with me. What a perfect gift for the one who has most everything he wants already.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So cool..., April 12, 2010

By 

Christian Miles - See all my reviews

This review is from: Endangered Words: A Collection of Rare Gems for Book Lovers (Paperback)

Being a writer, I loved this little book. My brother bought it for me and it's always a joy to flip through. It's become a bit of an inside joke between me and my brother to say the word "schlimbesserung" in public (Noun: A so called improvement that makes things worse).