Words: A Connoisseur's Collection of Old and New, Weird and Wonderful, Useful and Outlandish Words (1982) by Paul Dickson is a collection of words--literally, a collection of words. And just like the author, I must admit that I collect words. I think that most writers collect words; after all, words are our stock in trade.
I brought this book in an used book store years and years ago. It was probably Capital Hill books; the penciled three dollar price on end page is a reminder of how much I paid for the book. My copy is well-used; the spine of the paperback (a Dell tradeback) is cracked in the middle, leaving the book in two parts; still I hang onto it, not wanting to throw away my old friend.
Inside of it are chapters are collections of words that relate to the military, drinking, and how to describe someone who is drunk, some medical words, and a lot of areas that I initially would not have realized had specialized vocabularies. There is even a chapter of words relating to prophecy and divination, which inspired me to create my own such list of divinatory words.
If you can find a copy of this, and love the curious words that the English language, buy it. I am not sure if it is in print anymore, but I am not parting with my copy--sorry.
[I gave this book a five star rating on Goodreads.]
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