The Horologicon: A Day's Jaunt through the Lost Words of the English Language

The Horologicon - which means ‘a book of things appropriate to each hour’ - follows a day in the life of unusual, beautiful and forgotten English words. From the moment you wake to the second your head hits the pillow, there’s a cornucopia of hidden words ready for every aspect of your day. Do you tend to lie in bed before dawn worrying? Then you have the Old English ailment of uhtceare. Uhtceare can lead on to dysania (inability to get out of bed) and other zwoddery problems, which many have suffered but few can name. From encounters with office ultracrepidarians, lunchtime scamblers and six o’clock sturmovschinas to the post-work joys of thelyphthoric grinagogs and nimtopsical nympholepsy, Mark Forsyth, author of the Sunday Times Number One bestseller The Etymologicon, unearths words that you didn’t even know you needed. From antejentacular to bedward by way of nuncheon, at last you can say, with utter accuracy, exactly what you mean.