Book Review: Word Catcher

I suffer from logophilia! Indeed, I love words. They are delicious and learning new ones is a delight. This book solved a current dilemma. One of my sons has been tankmanning and it has left me flakhappy. Focusing on anything is a challenge and I tend to fribble the hours away (I suppose I'm not fribbling, since I'm praying for parental wisdom). I should really thole it better, but alas I don't. I'm not as resilient as I once was. Perhaps I am too much of a handschuhschneeballwerfer (don't you love that word for coward, roughly translated from German as one who wears gloves to throw snowballs). But, let me apologize. I'm being a wordmonger.

What a delightful book, easily consumed in small sittings with a limited attention span. Phil Cousineau provides a plethora of fascinating words and their origins in this book, Word Catcher: An Odyssey Into the World of Weird and Wonderful Words. I enjoyed learning about various fears and psychological states: aphilophrenia, the haunting feeling that one is unloved; arachibutyrophobia, the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth; hippomonstrosesquipedaliophobia, the fear of long words; kakorrhapphiophobia, the fear of failure; and callomania, the delusion that one is beautiful. I have often suffered from esprit de l'escalier: a brilliant comeback that comes to mind too late. Such delectable terms!

If you delight in dissecting phrases and expressions, you will love this book. It is a privilege to be a wordcatcher, playing a game of catch with Phil Cousineau. He has compiled a veritable treasure in this volume. Pick it up! You won't be discontented and your vocabulary will surely expand. I was thrilled to discover a similar book he has written called The Painted Word. Onward to more words!