We often hear about the richness of the English language, how many more words it contains than French or German. And yet modern desk dictionaries are the result of a paring away of that glory, so that merely standard, functional, current words remain. The price we pay for such convenience is the thousands of delightful words we never see or hear.

This book is an effort to save some of those words applicable to everyday life and countless word games from extinction. The resultant treasure trove of exotic verbal creatures is an indispensable resource for every lover of language.

A selection:

• egrutten: having a face swollen from weeping
• numquid: an inquisitive person
• sardoodledum: drama that is contrived, stagy, or unrealistic
• mimp: to purse one's lips