The Gilded Tongue: Overly Eloquent Words for Everyday Things [Hardcover]

Rod Evans (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 12, 2006

Join the ranks of the CLERISY

There are certain qualities that can set you apart from the crowd–like wearing the right clothing, jewelry, or shoes. But nothing draws attention or sets you apart like knowing and using a superior and aggrandizing vocabulary.

You'll ascend to the uppermost ranks of literary intelligentsia once you acquire the grandiloquent terms in this lush volume. More than 500 entries help you replace common, everyday language with meretricious words guaranteed to make an indelible impression on your friends, co-workers, and family.

With The Gilded Tongue, you'll never have to settle for plain, simple expression again.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

What distinguishes "The Gilded Tongue" from the banausic (practical or utilitarian) volumes on my reference shelf is that it is great fun to read. --Jim Busch, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

The point of learning new words is not to impress your friends or to seem more intelligent than>they. The point is to see more, to understand more. The Gilded Tongue uncovers old connections, introduces new spheres, and--in reminding us that there are words for all thoughts, all feelings, all things--upholds all humankind. --Robert Hartwell Fiske, editor and publisher of The Vocabula Review

About the Author

Rod Evans is the author or co-author of twelve books, including The Right Words, Highly Unusual Words and Sexicon. He teaches philosophy at Old Dominion University, and lives in Norfolk, Virginia.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Writers Digest Books (July 12, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582973822
• ISBN-13: 978-1582973821
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #170,399 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A satisfied pysmatic logomaniac!, August 13, 2006

By 

Cecilia Rodriguez (Tucson, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Gilded Tongue: Overly Eloquent Words for Everyday Things (Hardcover)

This was a VERY, VERY, scrumptious read! For any bibliophile, or logomaniac, this is a definite good choice! I paid full list price for this at Borders in Long Beach, CA, and it was WORTH EVERY PENNY! Funny words, neat words, strange and obscure words, everything! You name it! For anyone who loves grandiloquent speech, this is a must!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A logophile's delight!, August 29, 2006

By 

D. Mayer (Columbus, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Gilded Tongue: Overly Eloquent Words for Everyday Things (Hardcover)

You don't have to be a PYSMATIC LOGOMANIAC to enjoy this book, but it helps. You'll learn that Dolly Parton is BATHYCOLPIAN, that Osama bin Ladin is a CAITIFF, that H.Ross Perot is MACROTOUS, that H.L. Mencken truly was a NULLIFIAN, and that many lawyers engage in PLEONASM. The words in all caps are among the gems I discovered in this treasure-trove of "overly eloquent words for everday things," which includes a handy "reverse dictionary" in the appendix that enables even the most linguistically challenged reader to become erudite. Among my personal favorites in the book is KAKISTOCRACY (government by the worst people), an apt description of American politics today. I'm urging all my bibliophilic friends to buy this splendid book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you're impressed by your own vocabulary ..., January 4, 2007

By 

Bruce C. Friedman (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Gilded Tongue: Overly Eloquent Words for Everyday Things (Hardcover)

What a humbling experience! As one who has been an avid and faithful reader of, among others, both William F. Buckley and John Kenneth Galbraith, I've been a collector of unusual words for the past 35 years. So, when I received my holiday gift of "The Gilded Tongue: Overly Eloquent Words for Everyday Things", I thought that perhaps I might pick up a new word or two. Wrong! While I don't have the exact statistics (which is a bit surprising in itself, insofar as I'm a CPA by training), I'd speculate that 90% of the entries in this volume were foreign to me. So, if you enjoy stretching your brain a bit with words that go far beyond the obscure, have I got a book for you! I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the Appendix of Web Sites for Word Lovers (a great resource), the Reverse Dictionary (very useful), and the quite luxurious velvet cover (so very appropriate).