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innatejames's review
4.0
I don’t usually read dictionaries of idioms as novels, but the way John Ciardi inserts sarcastic asides and jokes and criticism of previous etymology work is engaging. I didn’t want to miss a comment, and I’m glad I read it cover to cover because I now know he inserted a made up word in there just because he wanted to. He was definitely a character.
The book was written in the early 80s or so, so some of the humor is dated. There were a couple racist comments about Native Americans and a “I have nothing against you homosexuals.”So prepare yourself for that if you choose to experience the book as I did.
Other favorite realizations were the number of words derived from the planets: jovial, mercurial, venereal. Most words that start with “sn” relate to the nose: snoop, sneeze, snore. Neither Venetian blinds nor Persian rugs were actually sourced from those places, but were the countries associated with them for Englishman because of trade routes.
The book was written in the early 80s or so, so some of the humor is dated. There were a couple racist comments about Native Americans and a “I have nothing against you homosexuals.”So prepare yourself for that if you choose to experience the book as I did.
Other favorite realizations were the number of words derived from the planets: jovial, mercurial, venereal. Most words that start with “sn” relate to the nose: snoop, sneeze, snore. Neither Venetian blinds nor Persian rugs were actually sourced from those places, but were the countries associated with them for Englishman because of trade routes.
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