Page 15 - Talk of Tequesta - January '23

The Talk Of Tequesta, Page 15

book revieW

The Painted Word: A Treasure Chest

Of Remarkable Words And Their Origins

By Nils A. Shapiro

To say that the author of The following Mojo; Okay; Omphaloskepsis; Onomatopoeia; Oxymoron;
this month’s subject volume paragraph from the Palindrome; Philomath; Phlug; Plucky; Prevaricate;
“has a way with words” (pun author’s lively introduction Quintessential; Ramify; Riffraff; Sackbut; Schmear; Scruple;
intended) is the understatement offers a very solid reason Sesquipedalian; Skulduggery; Tout; Tsmesis; Twitterati;
of the year! for the usefulness of this Umbrage; Up to Scratch; Voluptuous; Wanton; Wordpecker;
By the time The Painted book: Xenoglossia; Zoolite.
Word was published in 2012, “The Painted Word What makes learning so much fun throughout is the author’s
Phil Cousineau – a writer, is another collection of sense of humor, as the following entry – admittedly, one of the
photographer, filmmaker, strange and marvelous, less serious among the hundreds included – demonstrates:
editor and teacher – had rare and recently coined, “Phlug. Belly-button lint. Now tell me you’ve never wondered
written to excellent reviews curious and sometimes what to call it. File this one under ‘whatchamacallits’, that vast
36 books, all of them dealing hilarious words. Not category of indescribables, unmentionables, or just plain word
in one way or another with the subject of words: myths, poems, unlike Wordcatcher (my gaps in the language – all those words waiting, like long-buried
songs, chants, sports lingo, ancient to modern languages, and earlier book), this volume treasure, to be rediscovered, or at least to help us with our
so on. Typical of the reviews was this one: reflects my unswerving stammering. Comparably icky names would be ‘snot’, from the
“If The Painted Word were a club act, I’d sit there drinking belief in the need to unroll the scroll of language, from spindle old word capturing the similarity between the hardened mucus
in Cousineau’s revelations, tales and mythologies until they to spindle, so we can learn to say what we really mean and in the nostrils and a burnt wick. And consider this more vivid
kicked me out of the joint.” mean what we really say. Not out of what the proteanly talented than you would like: ‘snotter-clout’, an unfortunately vivid word
So it was no small surprise to me that, as an inveterate David Foster Wallace called ‘snootitude,’ his nose-in-the-air for a hanky. ‘Phlug’ is a sterling example of a word that sounds
lover of words myself, when casually browsing through the description of ‘extreme usage fanatics.’ But out of a desire to and even looks like the thing it means, although we may never
shelves of a local bookstore I came across this intriguing be alert to what travel writer Tim Cahill calls the ‘callouses’ actually want to use it. “Hey, honey, can you pluck that phlug out
title and cover design and yet failed to recognize the name that grow over our words if we use the same ones over and of your belly button?” may be technically correct but is certainly
of so prolific an author. Fortunately for me – and for those over again.” romantically incorrect. Companion words include ‘snot’, mucus
of you who share my passion for the beauty and fun of Arranged alphabetically, the hundreds of words – some from the nose, from the old Middle English ‘snotte’, which is
words for their own sake – I took the book home and it has handsomely illustrated with artwork by Gregg Chadwick – intimately related to snout. Also, a word that has bedeviled me for
turned out to be an absolute treasure that I am delighted include both the recognizable and the many you may well wish years, the very snotty word ‘booger’, possibly from the French
to share with you. to learn how to sprinkle into your own future correspondence. ‘bouger’, to move.”
This 400-page paperback presents hundreds of words – Here is a small sampling: Now, if you are the philomath I think – and hope – you
some of which will be familiar to you, many of which will Aloof; Biscuit; Book; Caprice; Chiaroscuro; Chutzpah; are, you will boogie on down to your nearest bookstore, or go
be completely new – and in each case explains its meaning Deadbeat; Dromomania; Honorificabilitudinitatibus; online, and enjoy your own copy of The Painted Word. Just
and origin … in the process taking you on a journey always Horripilation; Inkling; Kit and Caboodle; Kitsch; Knuckle think how impressed your friends will be when they note all
illuminating and often side-splitting. Under; Kvetch; Loophole; Malaprop; Maunder; Millihelen; the newfangled words in your vocabulary.

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