Mark Forsyth 3 Books Set The Etymologicon, Elements of Eloquence, Horologicon

The Etymologicon is an occasionally ribald, frequently witty and unerringly erudite guided tour of the secret labyrinth that lurks beneath the English language. What is the actual connection between disgruntled and gruntled? What links church organs to organised crime, California to the Caliphate, or brackets to codpieces. Mark Forsyth s riotous celebration of the idiosyncratic and sometimes absurd connections between words isa classic of its kind: a mine of fascinating information and a must-read for word-lovers everywhere.

Mark Forsyth presents a delightfully eccentric day in the life of unusual, beautiful and forgotten English words.From uhtceare in the hours before dawn through to dream drumbles at bedtime, The Horologicon gives you the extraordinary lost words you never knew you needed.Wake up feeling rough? Then you’re philogrobolized. Pretending to work? That’s fudgelling .A Radio 4 Book of the Week, The Horologicon is an eye-opening, page-turning celebration of the English language at its most endearingly arcane.

In his inimitably entertaining and witty style, he takes apart famous quotations and shows how you too can write like Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde or John Lennon.Crammed with tricks to make the most humdrum sentiments seem poetic or wise, The Elements of Eloquence reveals how writers through the ages have turned humble words into literary gold and how you can do the same.