ZOUNDS!: A Browser's Dictionary of Interjections [Paperback]

Mark Dunn (Author), Sergio Aragones (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0312330804 | ISBN-13: 978-0312330804 | Publication Date: February 10, 2005 | Edition: 1st

From Geronimo! to gesundheit to haminahamina to holy mackerel, and from abracadabra to zoinks, Mark Dunn and Sergio Aragonés show you interjections like you've never seen them before.

Often thought of as unnecessary verbal fringe or simply linguistic decoration, interjections (ahem, howdy, mamma mia, pshaw, tally-ho, whoop-de-do) may well be the most overlooked part of speech in the English language. ZOUNDS! A Browser's Dictionary of Interjections focuses the spotlight on this most deserving (and sometimes most demented) grammatical group. A light-hearted look at more than 500 interjections, ZOUNDS! explores the origins of these essential words and highlights the contributions of these previously unheralded parts of speech.

Perfect for both word lovers and the casual reader, ZOUNDS! brings together the linguistic talents of Mark Dunn, author of the award-winning novel Ella Minnow Pea, and the graphic hilarity of Sergio Aragonés, the legendary cartoonist and contributor to Mad Magazine, for a delightful romp through grammar, culture, and the English language.

Famous interjections include:

"Eureka!"
-Archimedes

"Badabing-badaboom"
-Tony Soprano

"Stuff and nonsense!"
-Alice, Alice in Wonderland

"Bah! Humbug!"
-Scrooge

"Fiddle-dee-dee !"
-Scarlett O'Hara

"Leapin' lizards!"
-Little Orphan Annie

"Nanoo, nanoo"
-Mork, from "Mork & Mindy"

"Dyn-O-Mite!"
-Jimmie Walker, "Good Times"

"Bully!"
-President Theodore Roosevelt

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mark Dunn is a lifelong word lover and the author of Ella Minnow Pea (nominee for Book Sense Adult Fiction Book of the Year, and winner of the Borders Original Voices Awards for fiction), Welcome to Higby (short listed by Publishers Weekly as one of the best novels of the year), and Ibid: A Life. He makes his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Sergio Aragones is a legendary contributor to Mad Magazine, where his work has appeared in every issue since 1963. His cartooning talents can also be seen in his bestselling comics, including "Groo the Wanderer," "Louder than Words," and "Boogeyman". He lives and works in Ojai, California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (February 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312330804
• ISBN-13: 978-0312330804
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,454,803 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good book for the W.C., April 20, 2005

By 

Dennis Laycock (Columbus, OH USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: ZOUNDS!: A Browser's Dictionary of Interjections (Paperback)

Sitting down to read this book for an extended period of time is probably not a good idea; it's a bit dry for that. However, it's great for reading in five- or 10-minute spurts, thus - it's perfect for the bathroom.

Not to insult the author, who does a fine job of documenting the birth of hundreds of interjections. The story about Kipling and Twain competing to write the most ribald story is one I'll not forget. And I picked up a few obscure interjections that I plan to use and freak people out once in a while.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Handy Reference Tool (for writers of dialogue), August 23, 2005

By 

Gregory Bascom (San Jose Costa Rica) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: ZOUNDS!: A Browser's Dictionary of Interjections (Paperback)

This review is for St. Martin's Griffin first edition, March 2005

As a writer of fiction, I purchased ZOUNDS hoping for a comprehensive dictionary of interjections used in dialogue, and I was not disappointed.

In addition to the definition, many entries include anecdotal information, the origin of the interjection, and a comment on the timeframe of usage. For example, "as if" was first recorded in 1905, "score!" was popular among teenagers in the 1990's, and "hey, Abbott!" has not been used much since the 1950s. That information might save a writer of historical or near historical fiction from making an embarrassing blunder. Also quite valuable is the nine-page index at the end of the book, which provides a concise list of dialogue possibilities from aaayy to zzzzzp.

For general use, I agree with Dennis Laycock's review that this is a good book for the WC. For writers of dialogue, it's a handy reference tool.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars By cock and bull!, April 12, 2007

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: ZOUNDS!: A Browser's Dictionary of Interjections (Paperback)

Pfft! Gut Shabbes! Fiddle-dee-dee! Bully! Toy toy! Ooh la la!

Let's face it, language would be a lot more boring without interjections, those odd little flourishes to emphasize whatever we're saying ("Drat! I dropped the cake!"). In "ZOUNDS!: A Browser's Dictionary of Interjections," Mark Dunn dissects the various interjections we say, and what they mean.

From "aayyy" to "zzzzp!", Dunn explores various interjections from the past and present, and they're a surprisingly colourful bunch -- there's the obvious little ones like "ah," "oh," "eh," and "aaaarrruuugah," which are mainly convenient noises.

But he also exxplores obscure little words ("beero!"), and ones that were used long ago or have fallen into disuse ("beauseant!"). Not to mention ones from other cultures ("Gut shabbes!"), or from movies ("Keeks!" "Nee!"). A disproportionate number seem to euphemisms for God ("Gosh all hemlock!"), or some rather impolite words ("Fudge!").

But he doesn't just tell us about these words, or what they mean. For example, it turns out that "ods bodkins" is actually a corruption of "God's bodkins" -- loosely translated, "God's little body," which was considered a very wicked phrase in Elizabethan times. Or that "slogan" is derived from an ancient Gaelic call to arms. Betcha didn't know any of that.

Moreover, Dunn explains them in an easy, chatty manner, as if he were a pal imparting various linguistic trivia. And he peppers the whole book with pop culture and literary references, as well as little "skits" to emphasize what they mean ("Dear girl, you have just destroyed all my cultures of the antibacterial Penicillium notatum!" "Oops!").

Even better, some of these interjections are so rare that they can serve two purposes: first, to serve as party trivia, such as "Did you know that the word 'begorra' may be connected to vivisection?". Second, some of them would make wonderful insults that no one can reply to.

"ZOUNDS!: A Browser's Dictionary of Interjections" is not only vastly entertaining, but tells us a lot about a part of language that nobody really thinks about. Imbars bidbib!