The Horologicon

A Day's Jaunt Through the Lost Words of the English Language

By: Mark Forsyth

Narrated by: Don Hagen

Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Do you wake up feeling rough? Then you’re philogrobolized. Find yourself pretending to work? That’s fudgelling. And this could lead to rizzling, if you feel sleepy after lunch. Though you are sure to become a sparkling deipnosopbist by dinner. Just don’t get too vinomadefied; a drunk dinner companion is never appreciated. The Horologicon (or book of hours) contains the most extraordinary words in the English language, arranged according to what hour of the day you might need them. From Mark Forsyth, the author of the number-one international best seller The Etymologicon comes an audiobook of weird words for familiar situations. From ante-jentacular to snudge by way of quafftide and wamblecropt, at last you can say, with utter accuracy, exactly what you mean.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2013 Mark Forsyth (P)2014 Gildan Media LLC

Critic reviews

"A breezy, amusing stroll through the uncommon histories of some common English words… Snack-food style blends with health-food substance for a most satisfying meal." ( Kirkus Reviews)

Funny!

Hilariously self-aware of its own nerdiness. Fascinating history of words long lost. Excellently performed. I believe they were mostly British English words, but nothing was lost on me as an American. Highly recommend for all word enthusiasts.
#humorous #witty #educational #tagsgiving #sweepstake

A Book Needing A 2nd go just for fun.

Mark's command of the English language is tremendous. I enjoy the jaunt through the day using these words that I wish I knew. I am finding I need to read this book of second maybe third time just so I can begin to remember the wonderful gold nuggets that are found in this Treasure of a book.

Writer and narrator dynamic duo

I really like this author, but Don Hagen is the icing on the cake. This is the second book by Mark Forsyth that I've listened. I'm relieved there is someone else who wonders about random trivia, and furthermore consolidates it into one book for those of us who don't have the resources or time to do it ourselves. Don Hagen's relaxed narration is natural and at times comical. I intend to collect all of these books. Others read by Don Hagen were by author David McRaney, which are also very entertaining.

The humorous life of words.

I'm always wondering how words happen and along with his book ETYMOLOGICON I now know some of what the author knows. Along with all the authors knowledge of lost words and his snarky sense of humor he tucks his tongue in cheek and spins an enjoyable tale. This is not belly laughter humor, rather a wry chuckle. And now I know what a "snick lifter" is. Who knew??

Funny funny fun fun.

Love all the books by this author. The humor is wonderful. You will love this book.

Better to sample in sips than to gulp down

I don't think I can be fair, stars-wise. The author wisely cautions the reader not to sit down and plow straight through the book, and he was right. I opted to listen to the audiobook (it was a Daily Deal on Audible awhile ago), and I don't listen in fits and spurts, but straight-through. The author was simply delightful, and the narrator was superb, but the content wasn't something to hold your attention for any long amount of time, so I found myself listening quite half-heartedly. But the author's asides and turns of phrase are wonderfully droll, and I am certainly interested in sampling his other works.

So, this wasn't a high-star book for me, but I think my lack of engagement was my own fault and don't want to drag down the rating by posting low.

Listen to It Start to Finish

Mark Forsyth warns us in his Preambulation (archaic form of Foreword) not to read this book cover to cover. As he follows that with a couple of jokes about what will happen to you if you read it cover to cover, one assumes he doesn't really mean it. Either way, in audio, you really have no choice, you have to listen to it from start to finish. And do finish it. As with his prior book, Eloquence, I wanted to bail after one chapter. As with Eloquence, the first chapter is the worst -- if you persevere, the rest is loads of fun.

The idea here is to tell the story of lost, archaic, obsolete words. The story unfolds as a book of hours, each hour of the day suggesting groups of words that follow the activities a normal working stiff would undertake during a typical day. For example, 8 AM is for dressing and breakfast, 9 PM is for drinking, 11 PM is for stumbling home after drinking. That is Forsyth's genius idea -- these lost words are not always that interesting, but the format (after the first chapter) keeps it interesting.

For me, the best categories are those that include recognizable words (e.g. elf-locks for bedhead), are euphemistic (e.g. a list of two hundred euphemisms for drunkenness compiled by none other than Benjamin Franklin, and lots of others for bodily functions and romance), or are onomatopoeic (e.g. zwodder, the stupefied state you are in just after you wake up). For some, only occasionally for me, lost words with recognizable Greek or Latin roots are of some interest.

Best of all are more recent words that have passed into obscurity or obsolescence but are still recognizable (at least to someone of my age) through pop culture, like old movies and music -- 1950s slang, WWII army slang, Runyonesque slang, and Cab Calloway's Hepster Dictionary. Unfortunately, there is too little of this, and way too much from the distant past that is virtually impossible to appreciate in audio where you don't really know what is being said).

Overall, I'm giving Forsyth four stars for the way he has crafted this into a storyline, but I'm only going three stars overall because of the dreary first chapter and successive sections that are equally opaque. The narration is excellent in conveying the sense of humor that makes this effort worthwhile in the first place. The only caveat is that Forsyth's sense of humor relies heavily on puns and groaners, which is fine by me, but may not be for others.

Captivating in a nerdy kind of way

Exactly as the title suggests, this book flows through numerous words that are no longer used. The short statements/stories about these words are interesting. Not too surprisingly there is plenty of slang that has come and gone concerning some of the same topics/thoughts we use slang for today. It makes me wonder how much I would understand of past English speakers if I could travel back in time a few hundred years, or would it just sound like a foreign language.

If only there were words to describe Mark Forsyth

Would you consider the audio edition of The Horologican to be better than the print version?

I think WhisperSync would be great for this so you can see and hear the words for better retention.

Would you recommend The Horologican to your friends? Why or why not?

My friends aren't interested in these topics but if I found anyone who was I'd definitely bring Mark Forsyth and his books into the conversation.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Unlike his book on entomology I did need a break from this one but only once. Still a great listen.

Delightful

A great non taxing listen. Enjoyed the humour and loved the narrator. Light hearted but clever.