Gallimaufry: A Hodgepodge of Our Vanishing Vocabulary (Paperback)

~ Michael Quinion (Author)
Key Phrases: obscure occupations, Old French, Old English, Jane Austen (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

`A fascinating book, full of the kind of authoritative information his readers have come to expect' Jonathon Green, World Wide Words

`Review from previous edition I have bought my husband's Christmas present' Dot Wordsworth, The Spectator

Product Description

When did you last hear someone refer to the wireless? Do you know the origin of the expression tin-horn gambler? Language is always changing, and in Gallimaufry, Michael Quinion has gathered together hundreds of fascinating examples of words and meanings which have vanished from our language. Sometimes a word is lost when the thing it describes becomes obsolete, sometimes it survives in a figurative sense while the original meaning is lost, and sometimes it simply gives way to a more popular alternative. We discover that scuttlebutt was the name of a water cask on a ship, around which sailors might gossip. The popular hat Fedora got its name from a character in a French play (Fedora Romanov, played by Sarah Bernhardt). With over a thousand curious words grouped under such headings as Food and Drink, Health and Medicine, and Entertainment and Leisure, and an index of featured words, this book is perfect for anyone intrigued with the history of the English language.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (April 2, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0199551022
• ISBN-13: 978-0199551026
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #445,529 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quinion's Quirky Quodlibet, January 29, 2007

By	J Scott Morrison (Middlebury VT, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Gallimaufry: A Hodgepodge of our Vanishing Vocabulary (Hardcover)

Gallimaufry (noun) - 1. a dish made up of leftovers 2. a miscellaneous jumble or medley

Yup, that pretty much defines the contents of British lexicographer Michael Quinion's fourth book of word stories. His previous book, Port Out, Starboard Home and Other Language Myths (2004) was a surprise big seller. It was no surprise to me because I've been following his work for years. He is the proprietor of an indispensable website, World Wide Words ( www.worldwidewords.org ) that is well-known to word-freaks like me.

'Gallimaufry' focuses on the stories behind words that are disappearing (or have disappeared) from the language. It is divided into sections on food and drink, health and medicine, entertainment and leisure, transport and fashion and concludes with a delightful section on names, employment, and communications. We get the stories behind such words as (to take examples only from the transport section) brougham (named for a former Lord Chancellor), landau, barouche, cab (née cabriolet), hansom, and taxi, among others. Did you know that the original form of 'taxi' was 'taximeter cabriolet'? The 'taximeter' -- 'taxi', tariff; 'meter' measure -- part of the name indicated that a cab was the first public vehicle to measure the distance a fare was taken and to charge accordingly.

Quinion's style is lighthearted while learned. I found myself turning pages just to see what was next. Admittedly I'm fascinated by words, having been a reader for the Oxford English Dictionary for a number of years, but Quinion's way of explaining word histories is unfailingly delightful and I think this book could be as interesting to the non-word-freak as was, say, Bill Bryson's book, 'The Mother Tongue.' And it's a lot more factual.

Typography is attractive -- the subject words are in bold print, making browsing easy -- and there is a full index of the words treated in the text.

This book would make a fine birthday or other gift for the right sort of reader.

Scott Morrison

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fipple, May 27, 2009

By	Peter L. Smith "humble servant" (Lake Worth, FL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I thoroughly enjoyed Gallimaufry. Like the author's website ([...]) the book is a compendium of archaic or esoteric words, or simply of fun words (such as fipple) in danger of becoming lost. His concentration on the origins and mutations of these words is, to me at least, particularly interesting. The book is composed of loose topical groupings and meanders freely through time and geography. As does the website, the books skews toward English rather than American English. I'd highly recommend it to lovers of words, esoterica or just general "stuff".

5.0 out of 5 stars Michael Quinion strikes again, January 30, 2010

By	Robert A. Scala - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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Michael Quinion has another good read for anyone interested in words, their origins, meanings and usage. Gallimaufry (a 16th century word meaning a hash made up of odds and ends of leftovers) is a fascinating walk through a garden of words mostly no longer used.