An idiosyncratic collection of (fairly) uncommon and pleasing words, 17 Mar 2008
When I saw this advertised, I felt slightly ashamed that I had no idea what a `philavery' was.... It turns out I needn't have worried: the word was invented specifically to describe this book: "Philavery /fil-a-vuh-ri/ n. an idiosyncratic collection of uncommon and pleasing words."

The book is the result of years of word collecting by the author, Christopher Foyle, chairman of the famous Foyles bookshop in London. The `uncommoness' of the words included in the volume is defined by Foyle; as such many words in the philavery are familiar to me. Indeed, he states in the introduction that the US commander of the first Gulf War described information with little value as "bovine scatology". The author admits he had to refer to a dictionary to discover the meaning of scatology, which surprised me as I would not personally consider it an unusual word. The same goes for fabiform, exsanguinate, factitious, chino and countless more. Some words, such as `halcyon', were included not because they are particularly unfamiliar, but because of their fascinating etymologies.

In all, this would make a great gift with its attractive design and quality of production. And whilst the criteria for inclusion in the philavery seems somewhat spurious, and certainly subjective, this is a 230-page book full of obscure, quirky, fun, poignant words, so even if you know some of them already, there is still plenty to delight and inform word lovers.

A delight, 06 Nov 2007
This is great fun for those who are interested in unusual words, even though there is, I think, a slight padding out. By my reckoning at least, some ten words out of the 105 listed here beginning with the letter A are not really all that unusual. But this must be a somewhat subjective judgment. Some 73 of the words under A I had never come across, and that's a pretty good score for this beautifully produced book. Would make a lovely present for a philaveryphile!

An idiosyncratic collection of (fairly) uncommon and pleasing words, 17 Mar 2008
When I saw this advertised, I felt slightly ashamed that I had no idea what a `philavery' was.... It turns out I needn't have worried: the word was invented specifically to describe this book: "Philavery /fil-a-vuh-ri/ n. an idiosyncratic collection of uncommon and pleasing words."

The book is the result of years of word collecting by the author, Christopher Foyle, chairman of the famous Foyles bookshop in London. The `uncommoness' of the words included in the volume is defined by Foyle; as such many words in the philavery are familiar to me. Indeed, he states in the introduction that the US commander of the first Gulf War described information with little value as "bovine scatology". The author admits he had to refer to a dictionary to discover the meaning of scatology, which surprised me as I would not personally consider it an unusual word. The same goes for fabiform, exsanguinate, factitious, chino and countless more. Some words, such as `halcyon', were included not because they are particularly unfamiliar, but because of their fascinating etymologies.

In all, this would make a great gift with its attractive design and quality of production. And whilst the criteria for inclusion in the philavery seems somewhat spurious, and certainly subjective, this is a 230-page book full of obscure, quirky, fun, poignant words, so even if you know some of them already, there is still plenty to delight and inform word lovers.

A delight, 06 Nov 2007
This is great fun for those who are interested in unusual words, even though there is, I think, a slight padding out. By my reckoning at least, some ten words out of the 105 listed here beginning with the letter A are not really all that unusual. But this must be a somewhat subjective judgment. Some 73 of the words under A I had never come across, and that's a pretty good score for this beautifully produced book. Would make a lovely present for a philaveryphile!

Synopsis, 16 Sep 2008
Not an exhaustive or scholarly dictionary of 'argot', but a saucy guide to survival in everyday French as it is really spoken. Includes chapters on love, sex, food and drink, expressing anger and insults

Good Fun! Useful?-Probably, 23 Sep 2007
Any author of this type of book is on a hiding to nothing - the readership is likely to stretch from the purient schoolboy to the scholarly student!
This book treads a good middle ground, with plently of gutter language, but with a hefty nod towards the correct grammar and pronunciation.
It's not all gutter language - that would make a very dull book - but it includes plenty of colloquialisms too.
The reader or student of this type of book is very much in the hands of the writer not to lead them into social difficulties (!) and the author of Merde! tries to help by grading the language from zero to two stars! However, I do wonder if the author has a prudish streak because there seem to be tranches of the English language that are not mentioned (do French women not menstruate?!).
There is also a danger of this type of book becoming out of date - and again the reader would be unaware of the changing language - with the potential for gaffes in use.
There are occasional curiosities , leading one to wondr why the inclusion - eg bistro. Furthermore, I am unsure whether the book is aimed at the British or American market - the author is clearly English, but there are occasional americanisms thrown in, which make it a strange read for an Englishman, but there are insufficient to make it a useful tome for an American.
Hoepfully the next edition will include an A-Z reference so that a term can be referenced back to a given page (eg Merde - see page 99 etc); perhaps a section on internet / email / txt speak might also be entertaining and potentially useful as well.

Entertaining., 20 Dec 2006
This book is entertaining to leaf through every so often, paritcularly if you might be visiting France any time soon!

You do, however, require previous knowledge of French grammar if you want to be able to use your newly learned words effectively.

It's great if you want to yell at someone, baffling them so much they're unable to retalliate. Even if you don't want to use the vocabulary (which includes phrases such as "to tear one another's guts out" and "to have it off"), it's still quite an amusing read.

The French you really wanted to know... and spanish too, 18 Feb 2001
I've had the UK version of this book for years, as well as the sequel "Merde Encore" and the Spanish version "mierda".

I couldn't believe my luck. Instant credibility in a few hours reading. I've shown it to many friends and it has been a universal hit. If it was used as a text book in schools, the interest and uptake of foreign languages would be much higher!

Going to France to enjoy yourself? You need this book!, 22 Jul 1999
When I first moved to Paris, I could barely speak a word of French (and had no job, and nowhere to stay, but that's another story), apart from a heavily-accented "une baguette de pain s'il vous plait Madame". And I can honestly say that this book was THE most useful thing I read -- indeed, it's the only book I pored over and learnt sections of by heart. Yes, speaking proper sentences and being polite and all that is all very useful, but if you really want to enjoy yourself, and get on with the locals, then this is the motherlode. Even if you only know two words of French, slipping a few well-chosen words like "bagnole", "boulot", and "flingue" (and the choicer swear words) into your conversation will break the ice, and impress your hosts, a LOT more than knowing the subjective pluperfect ever could. I eventually took "proper" French lessons at the Sorbonne, and had many arguments with my teacher about the relative merits of "correct" and "colloquial" French. For me, learning a language is about communicating, not about grammar, and this is the perfect place to start. To this day, I make sure that none of my friends or colleagues goes off to France for any period of time without a copy of this under their arm...

An idiosyncratic collection of (fairly) uncommon and pleasing words, 17 Mar 2008
When I saw this advertised, I felt slightly ashamed that I had no idea what a `philavery' was.... It turns out I needn't have worried: the word was invented specifically to describe this book: "Philavery /fil-a-vuh-ri/ n. an idiosyncratic collection of uncommon and pleasing words."

The book is the result of years of word collecting by the author, Christopher Foyle, chairman of the famous Foyles bookshop in London. The `uncommoness' of the words included in the volume is defined by Foyle; as such many words in the philavery are familiar to me. Indeed, he states in the introduction that the US commander of the first Gulf War described information with little value as "bovine scatology". The author admits he had to refer to a dictionary to discover the meaning of scatology, which surprised me as I would not personally consider it an unusual word. The same goes for fabiform, exsanguinate, factitious, chino and countless more. Some words, such as `halcyon', were included not because they are particularly unfamiliar, but because of their fascinating etymologies.

In all, this would make a great gift with its attractive design and quality of production. And whilst the criteria for inclusion in the philavery seems somewhat spurious, and certainly subjective, this is a 230-page book full of obscure, quirky, fun, poignant words, so even if you know some of them already, there is still plenty to delight and inform word lovers.

A delight, 06 Nov 2007
This is great fun for those who are interested in unusual words, even though there is, I think, a slight padding out. By my reckoning at least, some ten words out of the 105 listed here beginning with the letter A are not really all that unusual. But this must be a somewhat subjective judgment. Some 73 of the words under A I had never come across, and that's a pretty good score for this beautifully produced book. Would make a lovely present for a philaveryphile!

Synopsis, 16 Sep 2008
Not an exhaustive or scholarly dictionary of 'argot', but a saucy guide to survival in everyday French as it is really spoken. Includes chapters on love, sex, food and drink, expressing anger and insults

Good Fun! Useful?-Probably, 23 Sep 2007
Any author of this type of book is on a hiding to nothing - the readership is likely to stretch from the purient schoolboy to the scholarly student!
This book treads a good middle ground, with plently of gutter language, but with a hefty nod towards the correct grammar and pronunciation.
It's not all gutter language - that would make a very dull book - but it includes plenty of colloquialisms too.
The reader or student of this type of book is very much in the hands of the writer not to lead them into social difficulties (!) and the author of Merde! tries to help by grading the language from zero to two stars! However, I do wonder if the author has a prudish streak because there seem to be tranches of the English language that are not mentioned (do French women not menstruate?!).
There is also a danger of this type of book becoming out of date - and again the reader would be unaware of the changing language - with the potential for gaffes in use.
There are occasional curiosities , leading one to wondr why the inclusion - eg bistro. Furthermore, I am unsure whether the book is aimed at the British or American market - the author is clearly English, but there are occasional americanisms thrown in, which make it a strange read for an Englishman, but there are insufficient to make it a useful tome for an American.
Hoepfully the next edition will include an A-Z reference so that a term can be referenced back to a given page (eg Merde - see page 99 etc); perhaps a section on internet / email / txt speak might also be entertaining and potentially useful as well.

Entertaining., 20 Dec 2006
This book is entertaining to leaf through every so often, paritcularly if you might be visiting France any time soon!

You do, however, require previous knowledge of French grammar if you want to be able to use your newly learned words effectively.

It's great if you want to yell at someone, baffling them so much they're unable to retalliate. Even if you don't want to use the vocabulary (which includes phrases such as "to tear one another's guts out" and "to have it off"), it's still quite an amusing read.

The French you really wanted to know... and spanish too, 18 Feb 2001
I've had the UK version of this book for years, as well as the sequel "Merde Encore" and the Spanish version "mierda".

I couldn't believe my luck. Instant credibility in a few hours reading. I've shown it to many friends and it has been a universal hit. If it was used as a text book in schools, the interest and uptake of foreign languages would be much higher!

Going to France to enjoy yourself? You need this book!, 22 Jul 1999
When I first moved to Paris, I could barely speak a word of French (and had no job, and nowhere to stay, but that's another story), apart from a heavily-accented "une baguette de pain s'il vous plait Madame". And I can honestly say that this book was THE most useful thing I read -- indeed, it's the only book I pored over and learnt sections of by heart. Yes, speaking proper sentences and being polite and all that is all very useful, but if you really want to enjoy yourself, and get on with the locals, then this is the motherlode. Even if you only know two words of French, slipping a few well-chosen words like "bagnole", "boulot", and "flingue" (and the choicer swear words) into your conversation will break the ice, and impress your hosts, a LOT more than knowing the subjective pluperfect ever could. I eventually took "proper" French lessons at the Sorbonne, and had many arguments with my teacher about the relative merits of "correct" and "colloquial" French. For me, learning a language is about communicating, not about grammar, and this is the perfect place to start. To this day, I make sure that none of my friends or colleagues goes off to France for any period of time without a copy of this under their arm...

Huge book, hugely entertaining, 07 Nov 2008
Better than your average dictionary the author gives comprehensive descriptions of every slang word or phrase you've heard of and thousands you won't have. He has a wickedly humerous way of describing the words (esp the rude ones!) that encourages you to keep searching and indeed "reading" the blinking thing.

loses a point for lack of portability but that is being overly churlish perhaps.

An idiosyncratic collection of (fairly) uncommon and pleasing words, 17 Mar 2008
When I saw this advertised, I felt slightly ashamed that I had no idea what a `philavery' was.... It turns out I needn't have worried: the word was invented specifically to describe this book: "Philavery /fil-a-vuh-ri/ n. an idiosyncratic collection of uncommon and pleasing words."

The book is the result of years of word collecting by the author, Christopher Foyle, chairman of the famous Foyles bookshop in London. The `uncommoness' of the words included in the volume is defined by Foyle; as such many words in the philavery are familiar to me. Indeed, he states in the introduction that the US commander of the first Gulf War described information with little value as "bovine scatology". The author admits he had to refer to a dictionary to discover the meaning of scatology, which surprised me as I would not personally consider it an unusual word. The same goes for fabiform, exsanguinate, factitious, chino and countless more. Some words, such as `halcyon', were included not because they are particularly unfamiliar, but because of their fascinating etymologies.

In all, this would make a great gift with its attractive design and quality of production. And whilst the criteria for inclusion in the philavery seems somewhat spurious, and certainly subjective, this is a 230-page book full of obscure, quirky, fun, poignant words, so even if you know some of them already, there is still plenty to delight and inform word lovers.

A delight, 06 Nov 2007
This is great fun for those who are interested in unusual words, even though there is, I think, a slight padding out. By my reckoning at least, some ten words out of the 105 listed here beginning with the letter A are not really all that unusual. But this must be a somewhat subjective judgment. Some 73 of the words under A I had never come across, and that's a pretty good score for this beautifully produced book. Would make a lovely present for a philaveryphile!

Synopsis, 16 Sep 2008
Not an exhaustive or scholarly dictionary of 'argot', but a saucy guide to survival in everyday French as it is really spoken. Includes chapters on love, sex, food and drink, expressing anger and insults

Good Fun! Useful?-Probably, 23 Sep 2007
Any author of this type of book is on a hiding to nothing - the readership is likely to stretch from the purient schoolboy to the scholarly student!
This book treads a good middle ground, with plently of gutter language, but with a hefty nod towards the correct grammar and pronunciation.
It's not all gutter language - that would make a very dull book - but it includes plenty of colloquialisms too.
The reader or student of this type of book is very much in the hands of the writer not to lead them into social difficulties (!) and the author of Merde! tries to help by grading the language from zero to two stars! However, I do wonder if the author has a prudish streak because there seem to be tranches of the English language that are not mentioned (do French women not menstruate?!).
There is also a danger of this type of book becoming out of date - and again the reader would be unaware of the changing language - with the potential for gaffes in use.
There are occasional curiosities , leading one to wondr why the inclusion - eg bistro. Furthermore, I am unsure whether the book is aimed at the British or American market - the author is clearly English, but there are occasional americanisms thrown in, which make it a strange read for an Englishman, but there are insufficient to make it a useful tome for an American.
Hoepfully the next edition will include an A-Z reference so that a term can be referenced back to a given page (eg Merde - see page 99 etc); perhaps a section on internet / email / txt speak might also be entertaining and potentially useful as well.

Entertaining., 20 Dec 2006
This book is entertaining to leaf through every so often, paritcularly if you might be visiting France any time soon!

You do, however, require previous knowledge of French grammar if you want to be able to use your newly learned words effectively.

It's great if you want to yell at someone, baffling them so much they're unable to retalliate. Even if you don't want to use the vocabulary (which includes phrases such as "to tear one another's guts out" and "to have it off"), it's still quite an amusing read.

The French you really wanted to know... and spanish too, 18 Feb 2001
I've had the UK version of this book for years, as well as the sequel "Merde Encore" and the Spanish version "mierda".

I couldn't believe my luck. Instant credibility in a few hours reading. I've shown it to many friends and it has been a universal hit. If it was used as a text book in schools, the interest and uptake of foreign languages would be much higher!

Going to France to enjoy yourself? You need this book!, 22 Jul 1999
When I first moved to Paris, I could barely speak a word of French (and had no job, and nowhere to stay, but that's another story), apart from a heavily-accented "une baguette de pain s'il vous plait Madame". And I can honestly say that this book was THE most useful thing I read -- indeed, it's the only book I pored over and learnt sections of by heart. Yes, speaking proper sentences and being polite and all that is all very useful, but if you really want to enjoy yourself, and get on with the locals, then this is the motherlode. Even if you only know two words of French, slipping a few well-chosen words like "bagnole", "boulot", and "flingue" (and the choicer swear words) into your conversation will break the ice, and impress your hosts, a LOT more than knowing the subjective pluperfect ever could. I eventually took "proper" French lessons at the Sorbonne, and had many arguments with my teacher about the relative merits of "correct" and "colloquial" French. For me, learning a language is about communicating, not about grammar, and this is the perfect place to start. To this day, I make sure that none of my friends or colleagues goes off to France for any period of time without a copy of this under their arm...

Huge book, hugely entertaining, 07 Nov 2008
Better than your average dictionary the author gives comprehensive descriptions of every slang word or phrase you've heard of and thousands you won't have. He has a wickedly humerous way of describing the words (esp the rude ones!) that encourages you to keep searching and indeed "reading" the blinking thing.

loses a point for lack of portability but that is being overly churlish perhaps.

Good for Spain - useless for other hispanic countries, 15 Jul 2007
Even though it's conceivable that a book that focused on Spanish slang from all hispanic countries would be enormous, I find this book inadequate. The slang that it contains only makes sense to a spaniard - I have friends from Latin American and I tried using some of this stuff on them and they didn't have the slightest what I was saying.

Even the English translations are obscure if you are not fully versed in the British slang vernacular. My impression is that this book is only for the truly crass British tourists holidaying on the Costa Del Sol. Avoid and find a better source.

An idiosyncratic collection of (fairly) uncommon and pleasing words, 17 Mar 2008
When I saw this advertised, I felt slightly ashamed that I had no idea what a `philavery' was.... It turns out I needn't have worried: the word was invented specifically to describe this book: "Philavery /fil-a-vuh-ri/ n. an idiosyncratic collection of uncommon and pleasing words."

The book is the result of years of word collecting by the author, Christopher Foyle, chairman of the famous Foyles bookshop in London. The `uncommoness' of the words included in the volume is defined by Foyle; as such many words in the philavery are familiar to me. Indeed, he states in the introduction that the US commander of the first Gulf War described information with little value as "bovine scatology". The author admits he had to refer to a dictionary to discover the meaning of scatology, which surprised me as I would not personally consider it an unusual word. The same goes for fabiform, exsanguinate, factitious, chino and countless more. Some words, such as `halcyon', were included not because they are particularly unfamiliar, but because of their fascinating etymologies.

In all, this would make a great gift with its attractive design and quality of production. And whilst the criteria for inclusion in the philavery seems somewhat spurious, and certainly subjective, this is a 230-page book full of obscure, quirky, fun, poignant words, so even if you know some of them already, there is still plenty to delight and inform word lovers.

A delight, 06 Nov 2007
This is great fun for those who are interested in unusual words, even though there is, I think, a slight padding out. By my reckoning at least, some ten words out of the 105 listed here beginning with the letter A are not really all that unusual. But this must be a somewhat subjective judgment. Some 73 of the words under A I had never come across, and that's a pretty good score for this beautifully produced book. Would make a lovely present for a philaveryphile!

Synopsis, 16 Sep 2008
Not an exhaustive or scholarly dictionary of 'argot', but a saucy guide to survival in everyday French as it is really spoken. Includes chapters on love, sex, food and drink, expressing anger and insults

Good Fun! Useful?-Probably, 23 Sep 2007
Any author of this type of book is on a hiding to nothing - the readership is likely to stretch from the purient schoolboy to the scholarly student!
This book treads a good middle ground, with plently of gutter language, but with a hefty nod towards the correct grammar and pronunciation.
It's not all gutter language - that would make a very dull book - but it includes plenty of colloquialisms too.
The reader or student of this type of book is very much in the hands of the writer not to lead them into social difficulties (!) and the author of Merde! tries to help by grading the language from zero to two stars! However, I do wonder if the author has a prudish streak because there seem to be tranches of the English language that are not mentioned (do French women not menstruate?!).
There is also a danger of this type of book becoming out of date - and again the reader would be unaware of the changing language - with the potential for gaffes in use.
There are occasional curiosities , leading one to wondr why the inclusion - eg bistro. Furthermore, I am unsure whether the book is aimed at the British or American market - the author is clearly English, but there are occasional americanisms thrown in, which make it a strange read for an Englishman, but there are insufficient to make it a useful tome for an American.
Hoepfully the next edition will include an A-Z reference so that a term can be referenced back to a given page (eg Merde - see page 99 etc); perhaps a section on internet / email / txt speak might also be entertaining and potentially useful as well.

Entertaining., 20 Dec 2006
This book is entertaining to leaf through every so often, paritcularly if you might be visiting France any time soon!

You do, however, require previous knowledge of French grammar if you want to be able to use your newly learned words effectively.

It's great if you want to yell at someone, baffling them so much they're unable to retalliate. Even if you don't want to use the vocabulary (which includes phrases such as "to tear one another's guts out" and "to have it off"), it's still quite an amusing read.

The French you really wanted to know... and spanish too, 18 Feb 2001
I've had the UK version of this book for years, as well as the sequel "Merde Encore" and the Spanish version "mierda".

I couldn't believe my luck. Instant credibility in a few hours reading. I've shown it to many friends and it has been a universal hit. If it was used as a text book in schools, the interest and uptake of foreign languages would be much higher!

Going to France to enjoy yourself? You need this book!, 22 Jul 1999
When I first moved to Paris, I could barely speak a word of French (and had no job, and nowhere to stay, but that's another story), apart from a heavily-accented "une baguette de pain s'il vous plait Madame". And I can honestly say that this book was THE most useful thing I read -- indeed, it's the only book I pored over and learnt sections of by heart. Yes, speaking proper sentences and being polite and all that is all very useful, but if you really want to enjoy yourself, and get on with the locals, then this is the motherlode. Even if you only know two words of French, slipping a few well-chosen words like "bagnole", "boulot", and "flingue" (and the choicer swear words) into your conversation will break the ice, and impress your hosts, a LOT more than knowing the subjective pluperfect ever could. I eventually took "proper" French lessons at the Sorbonne, and had many arguments with my teacher about the relative merits of "correct" and "colloquial" French. For me, learning a language is about communicating, not about grammar, and this is the perfect place to start. To this day, I make sure that none of my friends or colleagues goes off to France for any period of time without a copy of this under their arm...

Huge book, hugely entertaining, 07 Nov 2008
Better than your average dictionary the author gives comprehensive descriptions of every slang word or phrase you've heard of and thousands you won't have. He has a wickedly humerous way of describing the words (esp the rude ones!) that encourages you to keep searching and indeed "reading" the blinking thing.

loses a point for lack of portability but that is being overly churlish perhaps.

Good for Spain - useless for other hispanic countries, 15 Jul 2007
Even though it's conceivable that a book that focused on Spanish slang from all hispanic countries would be enormous, I find this book inadequate. The slang that it contains only makes sense to a spaniard - I have friends from Latin American and I tried using some of this stuff on them and they didn't have the slightest what I was saying.

Even the English translations are obscure if you are not fully versed in the British slang vernacular. My impression is that this book is only for the truly crass British tourists holidaying on the Costa Del Sol. Avoid and find a better source.

Off the Hizzle., 29 Dec 2005
The popular website turns into the eponymous book. In an age where keepin up with popular cultural terms is becoming increasingly difficult, this book manages to capture as much breath as possible while remaining light-hearted enough to not represent itself as an authority. This careful balance makes it a winner. I would strongly recommend it as a gift for 'the person who has everything' as it makes for intriguing can't-take-your-hands-off-it reading. No coffee table is complete without it. Any journalist is naked without it. And maybe parents would enjoy it just for the sake of understanding what their children are actually saying. One, Money.

essential in modern living, 04 Dec 2005
Nowadays no one speaks english any more, more of a highly complex mixture of widely used "urban" words to form comprehendable sentences. The words used can vary widely from different parts of the country and can easily be adapted to include many new words for new things and habits. Just listen to your average skate "dude" talk and you'll see how easy it is to adapt to using such words. But be warned, you may find yourself using these words and phrases, although this may not be a bad thing, it may lead to "the degeneration of society as we know it"! Now we couldn't have that could we... ;-)

An idiosyncratic collection of (fairly) uncommon and pleasing words, 17 Mar 2008
When I saw this advertised, I felt slightly ashamed that I had no idea what a `philavery' was.... It turns out I needn't have worried: the word was invented specifically to describe this book: "Philavery /fil-a-vuh-ri/ n. an idiosyncratic collection of uncommon and pleasing words."

The book is the result of years of word collecting by the author, Christopher Foyle, chairman of the famous Foyles bookshop in London. The `uncommoness' of the words included in the volume is defined by Foyle; as such many words in the philavery are familiar to me. Indeed, he states in the introduction that the US commander of the first Gulf War described information with little value as "bovine scatology". The author admits he had to refer to a dictionary to discover the meaning of scatology, which surprised me as I would not personally consider it an unusual word. The same goes for fabiform, exsanguinate, factitious, chino and countless more. Some words, such as `halcyon', were included not because they are particularly unfamiliar, but because of their fascinating etymologies.

In all, this would make a great gift with its attractive design and quality of production. And whilst the criteria for inclusion in the philavery seems somewhat spurious, and certainly subjective, this is a 230-page book full of obscure, quirky, fun, poignant words, so even if you know some of them already, there is still plenty to delight and inform word lovers.

A delight, 06 Nov 2007
This is great fun for those who are interested in unusual words, even though there is, I think, a slight padding out. By my reckoning at least, some ten words out of the 105 listed here beginning with the letter A are not really all that unusual. But this must be a somewhat subjective judgment. Some 73 of the words under A I had never come across, and that's a pretty good score for this beautifully produced book. Would make a lovely present for a philaveryphile!

Synopsis, 16 Sep 2008
Not an exhaustive or scholarly dictionary of 'argot', but a saucy guide to survival in everyday French as it is really spoken. Includes chapters on love, sex, food and drink, expressing anger and insults

Good Fun! Useful?-Probably, 23 Sep 2007
Any author of this type of book is on a hiding to nothing - the readership is likely to stretch from the purient schoolboy to the scholarly student!
This book treads a good middle ground, with plently of gutter language, but with a hefty nod towards the correct grammar and pronunciation.
It's not all gutter language - that would make a very dull book - but it includes plenty of colloquialisms too.
The reader or student of this type of book is very much in the hands of the writer not to lead them into social difficulties (!) and the author of Merde! tries to help by grading the language from zero to two stars! However, I do wonder if the author has a prudish streak because there seem to be tranches of the English language that are not mentioned (do French women not menstruate?!).
There is also a danger of this type of book becoming out of date - and again the reader would be unaware of the changing language - with the potential for gaffes in use.
There are occasional curiosities , leading one to wondr why the inclusion - eg bistro. Furthermore, I am unsure whether the book is aimed at the British or American market - the author is clearly English, but there are occasional americanisms thrown in, which make it a strange read for an Englishman, but there are insufficient to make it a useful tome for an American.
Hoepfully the next edition will include an A-Z reference so that a term can be referenced back to a given page (eg Merde - see page 99 etc); perhaps a section on internet / email / txt speak might also be entertaining and potentially useful as well.

Entertaining., 20 Dec 2006
This book is entertaining to leaf through every so often, paritcularly if you might be visiting France any time soon!

You do, however, require previous knowledge of French grammar if you want to be able to use your newly learned words effectively.

It's great if you want to yell at someone, baffling them so much they're unable to retalliate. Even if you don't want to use the vocabulary (which includes phrases such as "to tear one another's guts out" and "to have it off"), it's still quite an amusing read.

The French you really wanted to know... and spanish too, 18 Feb 2001
I've had the UK version of this book for years, as well as the sequel "Merde Encore" and the Spanish version "mierda".

I couldn't believe my luck. Instant credibility in a few hours reading. I've shown it to many friends and it has been a universal hit. If it was used as a text book in schools, the interest and uptake of foreign languages would be much higher!

Going to France to enjoy yourself? You need this book!, 22 Jul 1999
When I first moved to Paris, I could barely speak a word of French (and had no job, and nowhere to stay, but that's another story), apart from a heavily-accented "une baguette de pain s'il vous plait Madame". And I can honestly say that this book was THE most useful thing I read -- indeed, it's the only book I pored over and learnt sections of by heart. Yes, speaking proper sentences and being polite and all that is all very useful, but if you really want to enjoy yourself, and get on with the locals, then this is the motherlode. Even if you only know two words of French, slipping a few well-chosen words like "bagnole", "boulot", and "flingue" (and the choicer swear words) into your conversation will break the ice, and impress your hosts, a LOT more than knowing the subjective pluperfect ever could. I eventually took "proper" French lessons at the Sorbonne, and had many arguments with my teacher about the relative merits of "correct" and "colloquial" French. For me, learning a language is about communicating, not about grammar, and this is the perfect place to start. To this day, I make sure that none of my friends or colleagues goes off to France for any period of time without a copy of this under their arm...

Huge book, hugely entertaining, 07 Nov 2008
Better than your average dictionary the author gives comprehensive descriptions of every slang word or phrase you've heard of and thousands you won't have. He has a wickedly humerous way of describing the words (esp the rude ones!) that encourages you to keep searching and indeed "reading" the blinking thing.

loses a point for lack of portability but that is being overly churlish perhaps.

Good for Spain - useless for other hispanic countries, 15 Jul 2007
Even though it's conceivable that a book that focused on Spanish slang from all hispanic countries would be enormous, I find this book inadequate. The slang that it contains only makes sense to a spaniard - I have friends from Latin American and I tried using some of this stuff on them and they didn't have the slightest what I was saying.

Even the English translations are obscure if you are not fully versed in the British slang vernacular. My impression is that this book is only for the truly crass British tourists holidaying on the Costa Del Sol. Avoid and find a better source.

Off the Hizzle., 29 Dec 2005
The popular website turns into the eponymous book. In an age where keepin up with popular cultural terms is becoming increasingly difficult, this book manages to capture as much breath as possible while remaining light-hearted enough to not represent itself as an authority. This careful balance makes it a winner. I would strongly recommend it as a gift for 'the person who has everything' as it makes for intriguing can't-take-your-hands-off-it reading. No coffee table is complete without it. Any journalist is naked without it. And maybe parents would enjoy it just for the sake of understanding what their children are actually saying. One, Money.

essential in modern living, 04 Dec 2005
Nowadays no one speaks english any more, more of a highly complex mixture of widely used "urban" words to form comprehendable sentences. The words used can vary widely from different parts of the country and can easily be adapted to include many new words for new things and habits. Just listen to your average skate "dude" talk and you'll see how easy it is to adapt to using such words. But be warned, you may find yourself using these words and phrases, although this may not be a bad thing, it may lead to "the degeneration of society as we know it"! Now we couldn't have that could we... ;-)

Still the best, 19 May 2008
This is the earliest and still the best of corpus-based dictionaries, meaning that everything in it, especially all the examples, are taken from a database of currently-used English. Many other publishers have brought out corpus-based dictionaries (usually called learner's dictionaries), but this one still tops them. One key feature is that definitions are written as a full, natural-sounding sentence, the way you would paraphrase a word to a friend. This makes for much easier reading and comprehension, plus it demonstrates the normal way a word is used. The examples are chosen to highlight typical uses and words typîcally used with the main word (collocations). It's overall user-friendliness is outstanding. For instance, typographically, the grammar information is given in a separate column, which avoids interrupting the flow of definitions and examples with those abbreviations. The grammar information itself is clever and uses the minimum amount of grammar jargon to give you the information you need. The CD-Rom version included is easy to install and to use (my adult students are very enthusiastic, and many have put in onto their office PCs as an everyday resource). In brief, this is a dictionary that understands the needs of today's English language user and learner and delivers it in the most accessible way.

The BEST that YOUR MONEY CAN GET. 5 stars out of 5. , 11 Jul 2006
PROS

- Each word entry has an example. It is drawn from Collins' bank of English with 2.5 billions of real Englis words. This help the readers to use the word in natural expression and grammatically correct. So far, it's the only dictionary that offers this useful feature. It has saved me from hours of frustration while writing technical documents and correspondence.

- You get two dictionaries for the price of one! It comes with a Dictionary CD rom containing the printed copy of the dictionary TOGETHER WITH pronunciation and 5 millions words of real English. This means you can look up the words, pronunciation and examples very quickly. This is a unique offer.

- It is well organized. Each word entry is printed in blue. Its definition is in black.

- The price is unbeatable for such a good and comprehensive dictionary.

CONS

Once in a while, there is a word with unclear definition. At that time I have to consult another dictionary. But after that I have to come back to Collins dictionary for examples.

In short, this is the BEST that YOUR MONEY CAN GET. I wish I had it while I was in school. Every high school and college student should have one copy.

An idiosyncratic collection of (fairly) uncommon and pleasing words, 17 Mar 2008
When I saw this advertised, I felt slightly ashamed that I had no idea what a `philavery' was.... It turns out I needn't have worried: the word was invented specifically to describe this book: "Philavery /fil-a-vuh-ri/ n. an idiosyncratic collection of uncommon and pleasing words."

The book is the result of years of word collecting by the author, Christopher Foyle, chairman of the famous Foyles bookshop in London. The `uncommoness' of the words included in the volume is defined by Foyle; as such many words in the philavery are familiar to me. Indeed, he states in the introduction that the US commander of the first Gulf War described information with little value as "bovine scatology". The author admits he had to refer to a dictionary to discover the meaning of scatology, which surprised me as I would not personally consider it an unusual word. The same goes for fabiform, exsanguinate, factitious, chino and countless more. Some words, such as `halcyon', were included not because they are particularly unfamiliar, but because of their fascinating etymologies.

In all, this would make a great gift with its attractive design and quality of production. And whilst the criteria for inclusion in the philavery seems somewhat spurious, and certainly subjective, this is a 230-page book full of obscure, quirky, fun, poignant words, so even if you know some of them already, there is still plenty to delight and inform word lovers.

A delight, 06 Nov 2007
This is great fun for those who are interested in unusual words, even though there is, I think, a slight padding out. By my reckoning at least, some ten words out of the 105 listed here beginning with the letter A are not really all that unusual. But this must be a somewhat subjective judgment. Some 73 of the words under A I had never come across, and that's a pretty good score for this beautifully produced book. Would make a lovely present for a philaveryphile!

Synopsis, 16 Sep 2008
Not an exhaustive or scholarly dictionary of 'argot', but a saucy guide to survival in everyday French as it is really spoken. Includes chapters on love, sex, food and drink, expressing anger and insults

Good Fun! Useful?-Probably, 23 Sep 2007
Any author of this type of book is on a hiding to nothing - the readership is likely to stretch from the purient schoolboy to the scholarly student!
This book treads a good middle ground, with plently of gutter language, but with a hefty nod towards the correct grammar and pronunciation.
It's not all gutter language - that would make a very dull book - but it includes plenty of colloquialisms too.
The reader or student of this type of book is very much in the hands of the writer not to lead them into social difficulties (!) and the author of Merde! tries to help by grading the language from zero to two stars! However, I do wonder if the author has a prudish streak because there seem to be tranches of the English language that are not mentioned (do French women not menstruate?!).
There is also a danger of this type of book becoming out of date - and again the reader would be unaware of the changing language - with the potential for gaffes in use.
There are occasional curiosities , leading one to wondr why the inclusion - eg bistro. Furthermore, I am unsure whether the book is aimed at the British or American market - the author is clearly English, but there are occasional americanisms thrown in, which make it a strange read for an Englishman, but there are insufficient to make it a useful tome for an American.
Hoepfully the next edition will include an A-Z reference so that a term can be referenced back to a given page (eg Merde - see page 99 etc); perhaps a section on internet / email / txt speak might also be entertaining and potentially useful as well.

Entertaining., 20 Dec 2006
This book is entertaining to leaf through every so often, paritcularly if you might be visiting France any time soon!

You do, however, require previous knowledge of French grammar if you want to be able to use your newly learned words effectively.

It's great if you want to yell at someone, baffling them so much they're unable to retalliate. Even if you don't want to use the vocabulary (which includes phrases such as "to tear one another's guts out" and "to have it off"), it's still quite an amusing read.

The French you really wanted to know... and spanish too, 18 Feb 2001
I've had the UK version of this book for years, as well as the sequel "Merde Encore" and the Spanish version "mierda".

I couldn't believe my luck. Instant credibility in a few hours reading. I've shown it to many friends and it has been a universal hit. If it was used as a text book in schools, the interest and uptake of foreign languages would be much higher!

Going to France to enjoy yourself? You need this book!, 22 Jul 1999
When I first moved to Paris, I could barely speak a word of French (and had no job, and nowhere to stay, but that's another story), apart from a heavily-accented "une baguette de pain s'il vous plait Madame". And I can honestly say that this book was THE most useful thing I read -- indeed, it's the only book I pored over and learnt sections of by heart. Yes, speaking proper sentences and being polite and all that is all very useful, but if you really want to enjoy yourself, and get on with the locals, then this is the motherlode. Even if you only know two words of French, slipping a few well-chosen words like "bagnole", "boulot", and "flingue" (and the choicer swear words) into your conversation will break the ice, and impress your hosts, a LOT more than knowing the subjective pluperfect ever could. I eventually took "proper" French lessons at the Sorbonne, and had many arguments with my teacher about the relative merits of "correct" and "colloquial" French. For me, learning a language is about communicating, not about grammar, and this is the perfect place to start. To this day, I make sure that none of my friends or colleagues goes off to France for any period of time without a copy of this under their arm...

Huge book, hugely entertaining, 07 Nov 2008
Better than your average dictionary the author gives comprehensive descriptions of every slang word or phrase you've heard of and thousands you won't have. He has a wickedly humerous way of describing the words (esp the rude ones!) that encourages you to keep searching and indeed "reading" the blinking thing.

loses a point for lack of portability but that is being overly churlish perhaps.

Good for Spain - useless for other hispanic countries, 15 Jul 2007
Even though it's conceivable that a book that focused on Spanish slang from all hispanic countries would be enormous, I find this book inadequate. The slang that it contains only makes sense to a spaniard - I have friends from Latin American and I tried using some of this stuff on them and they didn't have the slightest what I was saying.

Even the English translations are obscure if you are not fully versed in the British slang vernacular. My impression is that this book is only for the truly crass British tourists holidaying on the Costa Del Sol. Avoid and find a better source.

Off the Hizzle., 29 Dec 2005
The popular website turns into the eponymous book. In an age where keepin up with popular cultural terms is becoming increasingly difficult, this book manages to capture as much breath as possible while remaining light-hearted enough to not represent itself as an authority. This careful balance makes it a winner. I would strongly recommend it as a gift for 'the person who has everything' as it makes for intriguing can't-take-your-hands-off-it reading. No coffee table is complete without it. Any journalist is naked without it. And maybe parents would enjoy it just for the sake of understanding what their children are actually saying. One, Money.

essential in modern living, 04 Dec 2005
Nowadays no one speaks english any more, more of a highly complex mixture of widely used "urban" words to form comprehendable sentences. The words used can vary widely from different parts of the country and can easily be adapted to include many new words for new things and habits. Just listen to your average skate "dude" talk and you'll see how easy it is to adapt to using such words. But be warned, you may find yourself using these words and phrases, although this may not be a bad thing, it may lead to "the degeneration of society as we know it"! Now we couldn't have that could we... ;-)

Still the best, 19 May 2008
This is the earliest and still the best of corpus-based dictionaries, meaning that everything in it, especially all the examples, are taken from a database of currently-used English. Many other publishers have brought out corpus-based dictionaries (usually called learner's dictionaries), but this one still tops them. One key feature is that definitions are written as a full, natural-sounding sentence, the way you would paraphrase a word to a friend. This makes for much easier reading and comprehension, plus it demonstrates the normal way a word is used. The examples are chosen to highlight typical uses and words typîcally used with the main word (collocations). It's overall user-friendliness is outstanding. For instance, typographically, the grammar information is given in a separate column, which avoids interrupting the flow of definitions and examples with those abbreviations. The grammar information itself is clever and uses the minimum amount of grammar jargon to give you the information you need. The CD-Rom version included is easy to install and to use (my adult students are very enthusiastic, and many have put in onto their office PCs as an everyday resource). In brief, this is a dictionary that understands the needs of today's English language user and learner and delivers it in the most accessible way.

The BEST that YOUR MONEY CAN GET. 5 stars out of 5. , 11 Jul 2006
PROS

- Each word entry has an example. It is drawn from Collins' bank of English with 2.5 billions of real Englis words. This help the readers to use the word in natural expression and grammatically correct. So far, it's the only dictionary that offers this useful feature. It has saved me from hours of frustration while writing technical documents and correspondence.

- You get two dictionaries for the price of one! It comes with a Dictionary CD rom containing the printed copy of the dictionary TOGETHER WITH pronunciation and 5 millions words of real English. This means you can look up the words, pronunciation and examples very quickly. This is a unique offer.

- It is well organized. Each word entry is printed in blue. Its definition is in black.

- The price is unbeatable for such a good and comprehensive dictionary.

CONS

Once in a while, there is a word with unclear definition. At that time I have to consult another dictionary. But after that I have to come back to Collins dictionary for examples.

In short, this is the BEST that YOUR MONEY CAN GET. I wish I had it while I was in school. Every high school and college student should have one copy.



Insightful and Entertaining!, 01 Feb 2008
This book is recommendable to everyone who is interested in the Englsih language as well as to those which want to polish their english skills. The organisation of the idioms in categories instead of in alphabetical order is what makes this book very special in comarision to the other books on the market. Idioms are easy to find and once found you can inspire yourself while reading the other idioms in this particular category.

Most useful and entertaining as well, 02 Nov 2003
I find this new edition most useful and entertaining as well. The examples used are very helpful, carefully researched and documented. I book worth to be recommended to native speakers as well as to foreigners.

An idiosyncratic collection of (fairly) uncommon and pleasing words, 17 Mar 2008
When I saw this advertised, I felt slightly ashamed that I had no idea what a `philavery' was.... It turns out I needn't have worried: the word was invented specifically to describe this book: "Philavery /fil-a-vuh-ri/ n. an idiosyncratic collection of uncommon and pleasing words."

The book is the result of years of word collecting by the author, Christopher Foyle, chairman of the famous Foyles bookshop in London. The `uncommoness' of the words included in the volume is defined by Foyle; as such many words in the philavery are familiar to me. Indeed, he states in the introduction that the US commander of the first Gulf War described information with little value as "bovine scatology". The author admits he had to refer to a dictionary to discover the meaning of scatology, which surprised me as I would not personally consider it an unusual word. The same goes for fabiform, exsanguinate, factitious, chino and countless more. Some words, such as `halcyon', were included not because they are particularly unfamiliar, but because of their fascinating etymologies.

In all, this would make a great gift with its attractive design and quality of production. And whilst the criteria for inclusion in the philavery seems somewhat spurious, and certainly subjective, this is a 230-page book full of obscure, quirky, fun, poignant words, so even if you know some of them already, there is still plenty to delight and inform word lovers.

A delight, 06 Nov 2007
This is great fun for those who are interested in unusual words, even though there is, I think, a slight padding out. By my reckoning at least, some ten words out of the 105 listed here beginning with the letter A are not really all that unusual. But this must be a somewhat subjective judgment. Some 73 of the words under A I had never come across, and that's a pretty good score for this beautifully produced book. Would make a lovely present for a philaveryphile!

Synopsis, 16 Sep 2008
Not an exhaustive or scholarly dictionary of 'argot', but a saucy guide to survival in everyday French as it is really spoken. Includes chapters on love, sex, food and drink, expressing anger and insults

Good Fun! Useful?-Probably, 23 Sep 2007
Any author of this type of book is on a hiding to nothing - the readership is likely to stretch from the purient schoolboy to the scholarly student!
This book treads a good middle ground, with plently of gutter language, but with a hefty nod towards the correct grammar and pronunciation.
It's not all gutter language - that would make a very dull book - but it includes plenty of colloquialisms too.
The reader or student of this type of book is very much in the hands of the writer not to lead them into social difficulties (!) and the author of Merde! tries to help by grading the language from zero to two stars! However, I do wonder if the author has a prudish streak because there seem to be tranches of the English language that are not mentioned (do French women not menstruate?!).
There is also a danger of this type of book becoming out of date - and again the reader would be unaware of the changing language - with the potential for gaffes in use.
There are occasional curiosities , leading one to wondr why the inclusion - eg bistro. Furthermore, I am unsure whether the book is aimed at the British or American market - the author is clearly English, but there are occasional americanisms thrown in, which make it a strange read for an Englishman, but there are insufficient to make it a useful tome for an American.
Hoepfully the next edition will include an A-Z reference so that a term can be referenced back to a given page (eg Merde - see page 99 etc); perhaps a section on internet / email / txt speak might also be entertaining and potentially useful as well.

Entertaining., 20 Dec 2006
This book is entertaining to leaf through every so often, paritcularly if you might be visiting France any time soon!

You do, however, require previous knowledge of French grammar if you want to be able to use your newly learned words effectively.

It's great if you want to yell at someone, baffling them so much they're unable to retalliate. Even if you don't want to use the vocabulary (which includes phrases such as "to tear one another's guts out" and "to have it off"), it's still quite an amusing read.

The French you really wanted to know... and spanish too, 18 Feb 2001
I've had the UK version of this book for years, as well as the sequel "Merde Encore" and the Spanish version "mierda".

I couldn't believe my luck. Instant credibility in a few hours reading. I've shown it to many friends and it has been a universal hit. If it was used as a text book in schools, the interest and uptake of foreign languages would be much higher!

Going to France to enjoy yourself? You need this book!, 22 Jul 1999
When I first moved to Paris, I could barely speak a word of French (and had no job, and nowhere to stay, but that's another story), apart from a heavily-accented "une baguette de pain s'il vous plait Madame". And I can honestly say that this book was THE most useful thing I read -- indeed, it's the only book I pored over and learnt sections of by heart. Yes, speaking proper sentences and being polite and all that is all very useful, but if you really want to enjoy yourself, and get on with the locals, then this is the motherlode. Even if you only know two words of French, slipping a few well-chosen words like "bagnole", "boulot", and "flingue" (and the choicer swear words) into your conversation will break the ice, and impress your hosts, a LOT more than knowing the subjective pluperfect ever could. I eventually took "proper" French lessons at the Sorbonne, and had many arguments with my teacher about the relative merits of "correct" and "colloquial" French. For me, learning a language is about communicating, not about grammar, and this is the perfect place to start. To this day, I make sure that none of my friends or colleagues goes off to France for any period of time without a copy of this under their arm...

Huge book, hugely entertaining, 07 Nov 2008
Better than your average dictionary the author gives comprehensive descriptions of every slang word or phrase you've heard of and thousands you won't have. He has a wickedly humerous way of describing the words (esp the rude ones!) that encourages you to keep searching and indeed "reading" the blinking thing.

loses a point for lack of portability but that is being overly churlish perhaps.

Good for Spain - useless for other hispanic countries, 15 Jul 2007
Even though it's conceivable that a book that focused on Spanish slang from all hispanic countries would be enormous, I find this book inadequate. The slang that it contains only makes sense to a spaniard - I have friends from Latin American and I tried using some of this stuff on them and they didn't have the slightest what I was saying.

Even the English translations are obscure if you are not fully versed in the British slang vernacular. My impression is that this book is only for the truly crass British tourists holidaying on the Costa Del Sol. Avoid and find a better source.

Off the Hizzle., 29 Dec 2005
The popular website turns into the eponymous book. In an age where keepin up with popular cultural terms is becoming increasingly difficult, this book manages to capture as much breath as possible while remaining light-hearted enough to not represent itself as an authority. This careful balance makes it a winner. I would strongly recommend it as a gift for 'the person who has everything' as it makes for intriguing can't-take-your-hands-off-it reading. No coffee table is complete without it. Any journalist is naked without it. And maybe parents would enjoy it just for the sake of understanding what their children are actually saying. One, Money.

essential in modern living, 04 Dec 2005
Nowadays no one speaks english any more, more of a highly complex mixture of widely used "urban" words to form comprehendable sentences. The words used can vary widely from different parts of the country and can easily be adapted to include many new words for new things and habits. Just listen to your average skate "dude" talk and you'll see how easy it is to adapt to using such words. But be warned, you may find yourself using these words and phrases, although this may not be a bad thing, it may lead to "the degeneration of society as we know it"! Now we couldn't have that could we... ;-)

Still the best, 19 May 2008
This is the earliest and still the best of corpus-based dictionaries, meaning that everything in it, especially all the examples, are taken from a database of currently-used English. Many other publishers have brought out corpus-based dictionaries (usually called learner's dictionaries), but this one still tops them. One key feature is that definitions are written as a full, natural-sounding sentence, the way you would paraphrase a word to a friend. This makes for much easier reading and comprehension, plus it demonstrates the normal way a word is used. The examples are chosen to highlight typical uses and words typîcally used with the main word (collocations). It's overall user-friendliness is outstanding. For instance, typographically, the grammar information is given in a separate column, which avoids interrupting the flow of definitions and examples with those abbreviations. The grammar information itself is clever and uses the minimum amount of grammar jargon to give you the information you need. The CD-Rom version included is easy to install and to use (my adult students are very enthusiastic, and many have put in onto their office PCs as an everyday resource). In brief, this is a dictionary that understands the needs of today's English language user and learner and delivers it in the most accessible way.

The BEST that YOUR MONEY CAN GET. 5 stars out of 5. , 11 Jul 2006
PROS

- Each word entry has an example. It is drawn from Collins' bank of English with 2.5 billions of real Englis words. This help the readers to use the word in natural expression and grammatically correct. So far, it's the only dictionary that offers this useful feature. It has saved me from hours of frustration while writing technical documents and correspondence.

- You get two dictionaries for the price of one! It comes with a Dictionary CD rom containing the printed copy of the dictionary TOGETHER WITH pronunciation and 5 millions words of real English. This means you can look up the words, pronunciation and examples very quickly. This is a unique offer.

- It is well organized. Each word entry is printed in blue. Its definition is in black.

- The price is unbeatable for such a good and comprehensive dictionary.

CONS

Once in a while, there is a word with unclear definition. At that time I have to consult another dictionary. But after that I have to come back to Collins dictionary for examples.

In short, this is the BEST that YOUR MONEY CAN GET. I wish I had it while I was in school. Every high school and college student should have one copy.



Insightful and Entertaining!, 01 Feb 2008
This book is recommendable to everyone who is interested in the Englsih language as well as to those which want to polish their english skills. The organisation of the idioms in categories instead of in alphabetical order is what makes this book very special in comarision to the other books on the market. Idioms are easy to find and once found you can inspire yourself while reading the other idioms in this particular category.

Most useful and entertaining as well, 02 Nov 2003
I find this new edition most useful and entertaining as well. The examples used are very helpful, carefully researched and documented. I book worth to be recommended to native speakers as well as to foreigners.

Honest review, 25 May 2008
Got this to read from my other half. Its kept in my library, a small collection of books in my toilet. When I'm sat on the throne its great companion whilst i'm in the process of losing my digestive transit. I'm not able to go into great detail about the book. I don't have the vocabulary. But it's a bloody good book.

Definitive collection, 29 Dec 2005
'The Devil's Dictionary' is an interesting, very intellectually cynical collection of proposed definitions to words collected by Ambrose Gwinett Bierce, a journalist, writer, Civil War veteran, and general misanthrope, who disappeared without a trace in Mexico about 1914. In the words of H.L. Mencken, Bierce has produced 'some of the most gorgeous witticism of the English language.' Bierce delights in irreverence and poking fun at all aspects of life.
Bierce's own definition of dictionary gives some insight into his general thought patterns:

'Dictionary, n. A malevolent literary device for cramping the growth of a language and making it hard and inelastic. This dictionary, however, is a most useful work.'

This would lead us to conclude (most correctly) that Bierce is a world-class cynic. What is a cynic?

'Cynic, n. A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be. Hence the custom among the Scythians of plucking out a cynic's eyes to improve his vision.'

Originally published under the title 'The Cynic's Word Book', most of the definitions in this book originally appeared as part newspaper columns. There have been many imitators, but this is the first and finest collection. Arranged as a dictionary, it provides an interesting writer's tool for finding a unique perspective on words and phrases. There are more than 1000 entries. A few examples include:

'Outdo, v.t., To make an enemy.'

'Universalist, n. One who foregoes the advantage of a Hell for persons of another faith.'

Fair warning -- those who do not like cynicism and scathing wit will find this book irritating, and sometimes offensive. Bierce is a product of his generation; political correctness wasn't in vogue then, and, even if it had been, Bierce would have been one of the sharpest critics.

As a Christian priest, I take great delight in the insights from Bierce's criticism of religion in general, and Christianity in particular.

'Christian, n. One who believes that the New Testament is a divinely inspired book admirably suited to the needs of his neighbor. One who follows the teachings of Christ in so far as they are not inconsistent with a life of sin.'

Why does this ring so true? Of course, there is the old adage that if you scratch a cynic, you'll find an idealist. Bierce would undoubtedly have described himself as a realist, but buried beneath many layers of cynicism, one can sense the idealism.

Why did Bierce go to Mexico? Perhaps his underlying idealism led him to a country that was awash in revolutionary ideas; perhaps those ideas are what cost him his life. Perhaps he went underground? It is possible we will never know.

The publisher of this volume, one of but many reprints of the text over time, says: 'The caustic aphorisms collected in "The Devil's Dictionary" helped earn Ambrose Bierce the epithets Bitter Bierce, the Devil's Lexicographer, and the Wickedest Man in San Francisco. The words he shaped into verbal pitchforks a century ago--with or without the devil's help--can still draw blood today.'

This book is very useful for generating ideas for writing and reflection. It is a good counterpoint to 'guides to positive thinking' kinds of material, and can serve as a tempering agent on such collections.

Chuckle, 11 Feb 2004
The wit flows freely from this volume, and is sharp and astute. It's good for a laugh and, best of all, so cheap. Just the sort of thing you need when you're less than a pound away from qualifying for free shipping.

Highly entertaining, 13 Dec 2003
I have found that this dictionary can serve a number of purposes. It can sit on your bookcase and look interesting, you can read it (in which case you'll probably burst out laughing on occasion) and you can learn parts of it to use as wit in conversation.

The last is the most entertaining and this book is packed full of wit (or maybe just honesty).

So buy it, and buy it now.

definitely an entertaining and provocative reading, 04 Dec 1998
This book is actually as devilish as it looks. I have burst into laughter many times while reading it. The definitions are really creative and shows that the author was very good at observing everything going around him. It tells the truth about the meaning of words, but always with a sense of humour, which they deserve. This dictionary is very entertaining, provocative and, yes, realistic. Mr.Bierce is not afraid to say what the others would not and that is always something I like in an author. It is physically thin but mentally thick, that is, it will provoke you to reconsider the definitions you have in your mind. It is both fun and an eye-opener. Probably the most entertaining dictionary in the world.

Any "twist and twirl" or "heap of coke" who assumes that rhyming slang is an obscure and exclusive Cockney province can think again. You would hardly "Adam and Eve" some of the more recent coinages in The Oxford Dictionary of Rhyming Slang coming as they do from all walks of life and all over the world.

The first reference to rhyming slang was in John Camden Hotten's The Slang Dictionary (1859) and it probably originated as an underworld code before developing into a form of word play that people found fun. They still do. Alongside the old favourites such as "dicky dirt" for shirt and "whistle and flute" for suit are plenty of Tony Blairs (flairs) Claire Rayners (trainers) Britney Spears (beers) and Steffi Graf (laugh). Language is in a continuous state of change and Ayto gives us some delightful obsolete expressions such as "apple pips" for lips or "bowl the hoop" for soup alongside some tasty current ones such as Duchess of York (pork) and Schindler's List (pissed).

Ayto gets really entertaining though when he when he gets into the euphemistic territory of body parts and functions. If you call someone a "berk" or "burk" and think that's quite mild just remember it derives from a rhyme with Berkley or Berkshire hunt. Whores have variously been called "boat and oar", "bolt the door" (graphically reduced to "old bolts"), "Doug McClure", "Roger Moore", "sloop of war" and "two by four". And ask yourself what "raspberry ripple" and "Christmas crackers" might rhyme with.

For word lovers the thematic sections of The Oxford Dictionary of Rhyming Slang is an enlightening browse with lots of historical titbits. --Susan Elkin

An idiosyncratic collection of (fairly) uncommon and pleasing words, 17 Mar 2008
When I saw this advertised, I felt slightly ashamed that I had no idea what a `philavery' was.... It turns out I needn't have worried: the word was invented specifically to describe this book: "Philavery /fil-a-vuh-ri/ n. an idiosyncratic collection of uncommon and pleasing words."

The book is the result of years of word collecting by the author, Christopher Foyle, chairman of the famous Foyles bookshop in London. The `uncommoness' of the words included in the volume is defined by Foyle; as such many words in the philavery are familiar to me. Indeed, he states in the introduction that the US commander of the first Gulf War described information with little value as "bovine scatology". The author admits he had to refer to a dictionary to discover the meaning of scatology, which surprised me as I would not personally consider it an unusual word. The same goes for fabiform, exsanguinate, factitious, chino and countless more. Some words, such as `halcyon', were included not because they are particularly unfamiliar, but because of their fascinating etymologies.

In all, this would make a great gift with its attractive design and quality of production. And whilst the criteria for inclusion in the philavery seems somewhat spurious, and certainly subjective, this is a 230-page book full of obscure, quirky, fun, poignant words, so even if you know some of them already, there is still plenty to delight and inform word lovers.

A delight, 06 Nov 2007
This is great fun for those who are interested in unusual words, even though there is, I think