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 ( [...] ) 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

I've been a subscriber to Michael Quinion's free "worldwide words" email newsletter for at least ten years. He never fails to enchant me with "fun facts" that both add to my vocabulary and make me giggle out loud. In this volume, Quinion organizes the words that have disappeared from English. Sometimes it's because the item itself changed (when was the last time you actually _dialed_ a telephone?). Or, as Quinion explains in the introduction, the word shifts meaning, taking on a figurative sense which then usurps the original (russet was originally a type of cloth, not a color). Or -- well, he explains it better than I can. The point is that these words have fallen out of use; he explains the original meaning and why they disappeared.

For example, in a section on below-stairs life: "The beer came from the buttery. Originally, that had nothing to do with butter, but was the room off the hall, near the pantry, where the butts were kept; those were big casks of beer (Old French bot, from late Latin buttis, cask or wineskin). The man in charge here was the butler, at that time a much more lowly servant than the magisterial supervisor of the below-stairs realm he became later." And he keeps going for a little while... never losing my interest.

Gallimaufry is separated into several sections, including food and drink; health and medicine; entertainment and leisure; transport and fashion; and names, employment, and communications.

I'm sure that most of my writer-friends will put the book on their wishlists right now (and it *would* be a great, affordable present for any wordsmith you know) because Quinion puts some magic into language and how it evolves. Surely this is fodder for plenty of Scrabble games and erudite bar bets. It is also a no-brainer for anybody who writes (or reads) historical novels. For example, the historical mystery The Nicholas Feast includes a dinner scene; Quinion's chapter, "On messes in pots," explains all the things they were eating. Mawmenny or malmeny was essentially chicken with almonds and wine; charlet (from an Old French name for a type of pot) "was usually boiled shredded pork mixed with eggs, milk and saffron seasoning."

Mostly, thought, this book is just plain FUN: a collection of bon mots and "how BOUT that!"s you can enjoy in small doses. It's found a place in my bathroom; that's actually a good sign.

I love it. I think you will, too.

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".