Customer Reviews

The Lexicon: A Cornucopia of Wonderful Words for the Inquisitive Word Lover

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is THE book to have if you love English. There are wonderful examples of each word included. It's nice little size make it easy to take with you. The only reason it didn't get five stars from me is that it lacks the pronunciation of each word. Some you can guess, others, well, you better have a good dictionary on hand!

Ok great book, great man, incredible and renowned command of the English language, but what in the WORLD was he thinking by not adding the PRONUNCIATIONS????? GROAN. Terrible oversight. Almost hard to believe this could be overlooked. This book would have been a BIBLE of sorts to me if it showed pronunciations. Now I am forced to go look up the pronunciation every time I find a new word I like. Sigh.

When William Buckley passed away recently, several public television stations aired some of his older interviews. They reminded me how much I miss WFB. I bought this lexicon and read it all in the first night. I did not need a guide to word pronunciation, and did not expect one in a modern lexicon. It did make me laugh to remember how much I enjoyed Buckley's smug intellect, and that smile he would get when he thought he was about ready to leave his opponent speechless with his next comment. If you liked Buckley, you will like this little book. Highly recommended.

When it comes to the English language William F. Buckley is an epicurean extraordinaire and "The Lexicon" is a must for any committed logophile. Still a few caveats must be undulated

Some of the words included are as quizzical as some of those that are omitted. Alphabetically, the reference runs from "abattoir" to "xenophobia"--which seems a strange place to stop. Why there is no inclusion of "yokefellow" or "yaw" nor "zaftig" or "zeitgeist" is enigmatic at best. A second anomaly is that certain definitions differ from what is found my copy of "Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary." Mr. Buckley identifies "promulgate" as "to issue a new law or regulation;" Webster's definition says "to make known by open declaration...(or) to set forth or teach publicly." For "synecdoche" Mr. Buckley offers "the single example in place of the whole; the one for the many." Webster is more encompassing with "a figure of speech in which the part is used for the whole or the whole for a part." Webster's says that "kedge" means "to wrap or pull...(or) a small anchor," while Buckley's related but contrasting explanation reads "to anchor securely." As with ALL vocabulary sources, check the definition in a dictionary before using the word!

While not terribly detrimental Mr. Buckley pleonastically includes more than one form of several words. The use of both "intrinsic" and "intrinsically," "mollify" and mollifying," "invidious" and "invidiously," "stultification and stultifying" among many other double versions comes across as a rebarbative padding device--completely unnecessary in a collection this tumescent.

While the incorporation of words such as "salient," "levity," "obtrude," "junket" and a handful of other less than exotic choices is debatable, the assumption that some readers will be unacquainted with them is not quixotic. However, selecting "plainspoken" for placement within such a gallimaufry is truly outlandish. It seems highly doubtful that anyone unfamiliar with such a quotidian word would have the need for such an abstruse vocabulary primer.

Despite these minor to moderate drawbacks, this book is unreservedly recommended for those interested in elevating their speaking prowess. For three years I have been operating a "Word of the Day" email service/webpage (sent me a message if you wish to join) and "The Lexicon" boasted a plethora of specimens that I had never before encountered. So while all my above comments are valid, they are nugatory distractions compared to the numinous lagniappes that can be acquired from a perusal or two.

An interesting but not generally useful reference book. It really is written for use with a Buckly book or article.

It was my privilege to get to know Buckley. We did a PBS special together and found out we shared a similar experience. Both of us had people who got confused over our use of the word irenic. That was ironic!

William F. Buckley Jr. was well renowned for his vocabulary, but I am not sure that is a so much complement to him or a reflection of our society's educational inadequacies. Certainly his vocabulary was inferior to that of Shakespeare. You respond `but that was Shakespeare'. To which I must observe that Shakespeare's audience of rough and bawdy tradesmen, housewives and shop owners standing about the stage of the Globe understood and enjoyed every word that flowed from the Bard's pen. Today , many find that word wizard of 400 years past almost unreadable because they must so often have recourse to a dictionary and Buckley was frequently criticized for his use of words that transcended an 8th grade reading level. This book is an amusing tonic for such deplorable ignorance.

But do not think this book a comprehensive compilation of all the language's big words; for that, get the American Heritage Dictionary. That is what Mr. Buckley used. No, this is a specific collection of words that he owned and used daily in his writing and that is what makes the book fun. Each word listed is followed by a brief straightforward definition. Then this definition is followed by a sentence or a paragraph from somewhere among Buckley's voluminous verbal outpourings that illustrates how he actually used the word. Mr. Buckley chose these writing samples to be humorous or provocative and to remind us all of the times and circumstances under which he wrote. All the examples make a point and those points demonstrate just what a difference Mr. Buckley's writing made in American politics and polemic.

Arnold Roth provided a smattering of what I think are somewhat garish illustrations to demonstrate humorously the meaning of some of the words, those for hemidemisimiquaver and gerrymander stand out. The book is small and should occupy no more than a few hours, but those hours will be well spent. And you will learn some new words and something of Mr. Buckley and his time. Definitely worth the expenditure.

I write this the day after President Obama finally acknowledged the babbling, screaming yokels and produced his birth form. Are the jackels happy now? Not really. They are tearing the document apart and calling Obama a liar. It's a sad day for America when a president feels the need to bow down to that level. But that is how stupid this country has become. The conservative movement is now in the hands of the Tea Party crackpots and mental giants like Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann (hey, how about that for a 2012 ticket!?!). WFB must be spinning in his grave, seeing the witless mouth breathers and hateful 'nabobs of negativity' who've hijacked his party.

You may have guessed that I am a liberal to the core but I've always loved to watch, listen to and read WFB. Anything he had to say was pretty interesting to me, purely because of what he said, and, almost as important, the way he said it.

I am a long-time "word junkie", but I only recently came across this book, I'm sorry to say. What makes this particular volume truly unique is that the list of words, the definitions of the words, and the all-important citations of the words are all from WFB himself. The wonderful contextual examples all come from the WFB's own writings, and it is obvious that he was comfortable with these difficult words and knew them well enough to use them properly. It's amazing how many of the "hard" words you hear and see and read are actually in this book. When I pick up one of these, I always look for a group of particular words, which, to me, are mandatory for inclusion. These words are: epistomology, inchoate, jejune, orotund, and quotidian. Not surprisingly, all are included here.

I would have given the book five stars if (1) it had more words to make it more complete; (2) had pronunciations (I'm guessing that I was comfortable in pronouncing 85-90% of the words, however); and (3) had etymologies of the words (but of course, these can be found in a dictionary).

For a "logophile", this is certainly an indispensible book. Too bad that someone didn't have the bright idea of making a DVD or series of DVD's of this book, with WFB the star, simply expounding, in his inimitable way, on the wonders of language. For me, this is one of the better books of this kind mainly because of that piquant WFB touch.

Take your time reading through this book! I've found that it's good just to flip through, pick a word, and then try to inject it into my vocab for a week. It's fun, and if you like new words like me, then you will enjoy this book.

Anyone that does any form of writing or speaking will benefit greatly from this book. It will expand your vocabulary quite a bit. Perfect for anyone who admired Buckley's speeches.