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 Thumbs Down -- at least at this price Aug 28, 2008
I am not a super-expert word person, so when I easily find mistakes in a book about words (especially if I wasn't even looking for mistakes and was just skimming over some of the pages), I already have a bad feeling about the book. In addition to mistakes, I have found (without thoroughly reading the whole book, just kind of skimming) other problems as well.
For one thing, the author doesn't tell us what part of speech a word is -- doesn't tell us whether the word is a noun, a verb, an adjective, an adverb, etc. Fine, so maybe it's not a formal dictionary; but to properly use a word, you need to know this information.
Another objection I have is that no pronunciations are provided. So, if you want to use a word correctly, you may have to go elsewhere to find out how to say it.
I found multiple cases where the "definition" is vague enough to leave me wondering what the definition is. For instance: "A fish." is the complete definition for multiple words. Does the word mean the same thing as "fish" -- so that any fish could be called by this word? Or does the word name a specific species of fish? The author leaves us unsure. Here are some of the words I have found with this problem:
AASVOGAL- A vulture.
[Are all vultures aasvogals, or is aasvogal a certain species of vulture?]
ABOMA- A snake from South America.
[Are all South American snakes abomas, or is this a specific kind of snake that is only found there?]
ABUTILON- A shrub.
ACHENE- One-seeded fruit.
[Is this the name of a class of fruit -- all fruit with one seed -- or of a specific fruit which just happens to have only one seed? Does a mango count? Is a peach an achene?]
ACHIOTE- Evergreen tree.
[Is this another name for evergreen, as opposed to, say, deciduous, or is it a specific tree?]
ACRITARCH- A microfossil.
ALUMROOT- A plant.
AMBERJACK- A fish.
APTERYX- The kiwi.
[There is a kind of bird called a kiwi, and there is a fruit called a kiwi. Is apteryx fruit or fowl? Or maybe apteryx is another name for the people of New Zealand.]
GERARDIA- A plant.
GESNERIA- A plant.
GLOXINIA- A plant.
GODWIT- A bird.
GRAYLING- A fish.
GROUNDSEL- A plant.
GUITGUIT- A bird.
GURNARD- A fish.
HACKMATACK- A tree.
HAGDON- A bird.
HAREBELL- A plant.
HELLERI- A fish.
HEPATICA- A plant.
HONEYGUIDE- A bird.
ONO- A fish.
OPAH- A fish.
OQUASSA- A fish.
ORIOLE- A colorful bird.
[Here he gives a little bit of a description of the bird. But he doesn't tell us (although most of us already know) that it is a certain species of bird, and not just any colorful bird.]
Okay. "A bird," "a plant," "a fish," "a tree," etc., are not adequate definitions. You can't actually *use* any of these words based on this information. You might be able to get some kind of clue about a word you come across in your reading somewhere, but these are not very helpful explanations otherwise. He does give more information on some of the entries, but on others, he does not. Why? This is very inconsistent. If he gives some helpful information for some of the words, why not the other fish and birds and plants?
The "definitions" are all just a very few words long, which isn't necessarily a bad thing; but in many of these cases it isn`t enough.
Here are some examples of other problems:
ABORTIFACIENT- To induce abortion.
["To induce" is a verb. Abortifacient is not a verb. It is, in all dictionaries where I have seen it, first listed as a noun (something that causes abortion) and then as an adjective. One can induce an abortion, but one cannot abortifacient.]
ACAULINE- No stem.
[How hard would it be to correctly state "having no stem"?]
ACROTIC- A weakened pulse.
["A weakened pulse" is a definition for a noun. Acrotic is an adjective, not a noun. Acrotism is a noun. A better definition for acrotic would be "having a weakened or absent pulse."]
ALACKADAY- To convey sorrow.
[Again, "to convey" is a verb. Alackaday is not a verb; it is an interjection used to express sorrow, regret, or dismay. One cannot alackaday.]
ALEATORY- Luck.
[Luck is a noun. Aleatory is an adjective. A better definition would be "of or pertaining to luck or chance."]
NOIR- Black.
[If you were reading about a noir film and looked noir up in this lexicon, you would not know what kind of film a noir film is. Is it one that is for or by or about Africans? Or maybe it means a black and white film rather than a color film?]
NOMBRIL- A navel.
[This is a thoroughly inadequate definition. With it, you would think the word refers only to a certain part of anatomy, and have no clue that it usually refers to heraldry -- specifically, a point on a shield.]
PATTYPAN- A food pan.
[This is really too non-specific. How about "a pan for baking patties"?]
SCREENLAND-
[That's right! There is no definition for screenland; but I'll give you a hint: "Hollywood," or "the movie industry."]
If a person were to actually use some of the words as defined in this book, he would appear rather foolish to anyone with a reasonable vocabulary.
Another thing that I, personally, found annoying is the fact that the "definitions" all begin with an upper-case letter and end with a period, as though they were all complete sentences, but they are not.
Again, I have not read through the whole book. I've skimmed very lightly through some of it. Some of the words and definitions are useful and interesting and fun; but because I know that there are inaccuracies, how can I trust any of the entries?
While the book may be mildly amusing, it is over-priced. As I write this, the book is listed for $21.99. Yes, it has a lot of pages; but it has very little on each page. It is not worth that much. And you need a good dictionary in order to determine whether the definitions are correct.
0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Creating a fun adventure! Mar 08, 2008
What a great journey your book took me down! Your manuscript is a helluva (something extraordinary) escapade from reality! It is fantabulous (excellent)! We had so much fun sipping a glass of scuppernong (a wine), fabulating (inventing stories) and laughing like a braintail (songbird). Who thought word games could be so fun? You brought sagacity (enlightenment) while allowing me to collimate (to bring into focus) and learn new things. While I too often cybernate (to dominate by computer) once I get home, your book was better than a dacquoise (dessert). Thanks, Paul! PS Scrabble, anyone?
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