# The man who reads dictionaries



## curry (Oct 8, 2008)

Ένας τύπος που διαβάζει λεξικά εξηγεί το χόμπι του στο BBC. Εξαιρετικά αφιερωμένο! 
Ολόκληρο το άρθρο με φωτογραφίες κλπ εδώ.

Ammon Shea spent a year reading the Oxford English Dictionary - 20 volumes, 21,730 pages and 59 million words - and he rates poring over a dictionary as enriching as reading a novel. Why?

The prospect of talking to a man who reads dictionaries for fun prompts a sudden vocabulary-insecurity complex and a fear that every word he utters might sound like a painful medical condition.

But thanks to Ammon Shea's belief that long words only hinder conversations, there's no need to consult any dictionaries while he clearly explains his eccentric hobby.

"I'm not against big words per se or fancy or obscure words, obviously I love them, but I'm opposed to using them for their own sake," he says.

"If words are to form a communication, you use them as a tool to communicate to people and it's pointless to intentionally use a word that no-one else knows."

Mr Shea, a 37-year-old former furniture remover in New York, has spent 12 months conquering what he describes as the Everest of dictionaries, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), by ploughing through 20 volumes weighing a total of 137lbs.

*In the process, he became the Morgan Spurlock of lexicologists, devouring words for eight to 10 hours a day, which caused him severe headaches, deteriorating eyesight and injuries to his back and neck. So why bother?*

"I've always enjoyed reading dictionaries and they are far more interesting than people give them credit for. And I think everything you find in a great book you would find in a great dictionary, except for the plot.

"All the normal emotions - grief, happiness and loss - exist in a dictionary but not necessarily in the order that you would think."

If you come across a word like "remord" (to recall with a touch of regret) it's impossible to read that word without thinking of things that you regret yourself, he says, or to read "unbepissed" (not having been urinated on) without a chuckle. 

SOME OF HIS FAVOURITES...
Cachinnator - one who laughs too much or too loudly
Dyspathy - the opposite of sympathy
Gove - to stare stupidly
Hansardize - to change one's opinion
Happify - to make happy
Natiform - buttock-shaped
Pejorist - one who thinks the world is getting worse
Philodox - one who is in love with his own opinion
Secretary - one who is privy to a secret
Tripudiate - to dance, skip or leap for joy


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## curry (Oct 10, 2008)

Στο τέλος του άρθρου για τον διαβαστερό τύπο, το BBC είχε ζητήσει από τους αναγνώστες να γράψουν τις δικές τους αγαπημένες λέξεις. Επέλεξαν 50 και τις δημοσιεύουν σήμερα στο site μαζί με τα σχόλια όσων τις έστειλαν. 

Αντιγράφω τις 18 πρώτες, εδώ θα βρείτε και τις υπόλοιπες. 
Μερικές θα δυσκόλευαν αρκετά τον έλληνα μεταφραστή! Άλλες, καθόλου!

Δεν άντεξα να μην κάνω μια επεμβασούλα στην 6η λέξη!
Enjoy!

Lots of sesquipedalians out there, judging by the response to our feature on the man who reads dictionaries for fun, Ammon Shea. We asked for your favourite words and were overwhelmed with nominations. Here we list 50 of the best.

1. To throw something (someone) out of a window is to *defenestrate*. I love this word because it immediately brings some interesting memories to the front, not to mention makes me think of some new things to toss out of a window.
Lee Nachtigal, West Hartford, Connecticut, USA

2. *Poodle-faker* - a young man too much given to taking tea with ladies.
Jane, Pembroke

3. *Omphaloskepsis* (self-absorbed, naval-gazing). I'm not really a selfish person, but I do occasionally need someone to remind me to look up from my naval. Plus, things that have to do with belly-buttons are generally pretty fun.
Anise Brock, San Francisco, USA

4. *Mallemaroking* - the carousing of seamen in icebound ships. A wonderfully useful word! How many icebound ships do we all know?
Sue H, Tiverton

5. *Spanghew* - to cause (esp. a toad or frog) to fly into the air off the end of a stick. (In northern and Scottish use.) Why? Well, all one has to do is imagine the myriad situations in which one might use this word.
Michael Everson, Ireland

6. *Scrimshanker* - one who accepts neither responsibility nor work.
Maurice De Ville, Chesterfield

Άρα, συμπεραίνουμε ότι Scrimshanker=Έλληνας πολιτικός σε κυβερνητική θέση. Piece of cake! 

7. *Zareba* - a protective hedge around a village or camp, particularly in the Sudan. Used to great effect by PG Wodehouse in, for example, The Clicking Of Cuthbert, with his description of a Russian novelist: "Vladimir Brusiloff had permitted his face to become almost entirely concealed behind a dense zareba of hair."
Peter Skinner, Morpeth, UK

8. I first heard Stephen Fry (of course!) use this on QI. *Tmesis *- To break one word with another. For example: dis-bloomin-graceful, un-flippin-believable. Use it mainly when talking to British Gas.
Colin Rogers, Maidenhead, Berks

9. I love the word *quidnunc*, which means one who gossips because it is a word I could use to describe a lot of people who fit the definition and they wouldn't know what I was saying.
Katie, Hickory Hills, IL, USA

10. *Ischial callosities* is a great description, because of its precision. It refers to the leather-like pads on a monkey's bum.
Paul Edward Hughes, Langley, Canada

11. One of my favourite words is *cryptomnesia *because it captures the meaning of a whole process that I previously never thought could make it into a single meaningful word. Of course it makes sense, and literally means "buried memory". I first came across it reading Jung when he described the process of forgetting the source of some information and assuming you've known it all along. That's such an ephemeral process, and I'm fascinated by it as much as the word used to describe it.
Alan Languirand, Ypsilanti MI, USA

12. One of my favourite words is *urt*. Urt is almost onomatopoeic, since an urt is a "leftover bit".
Eric McConnachie, Clear Lake, Ontario, CANADA

13. I like the word *termagant* meaning a quarrelsome shrew of a woman - because it's just obscure enough to get mixed up with "ptarmigan", a lovely bird.
Jan, Portland, Oregon, USA

14. *Oxter*- space under the arm (not the armpit) ie. he walked down the street with a copy of the Times under his oxter.
David McLoughlin, Dublin, Ireland

15. *Spelunking*- the hobby or practice of exploring caves. The word just sounds good, I love it!
Rachel, Reading

16. *Petrichor* - the sweet smell of rain on dry earth. Although I wouldn't consider myself enough of a lexiphane (another good word, meaning "one who uses words pretentiously") to bring it up in every day conversation. Plus, living in Scotland, dry earth isn't a phenomenon I'm used to.
Natalie, Glasgow

17. *Frippet* (noun) - A flighty young woman prone to showing off. Could be used for the vast majority of contestants on Big Brother.
Charley, Bristol

18. *Panglossian* - Excessively or naively optimistic. The world needs more people like this now than ever!
VJ Patel, Luton, UK


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## Ambrose (Oct 10, 2008)

curry said:


> 3. *Omphaloskepsis* (self-absorbed, naval-gazing). I'm not really a selfish person, but I do occasionally need someone to remind me to look up from my naval. Plus, things that have to do with belly-buttons are generally pretty fun.



Οπότε η omphaloskopisis έγινε omphaloskepsis. Πολύ ενδιαφέρον!

Μου θυμίζει την ιστορία της Ινφάντας από την Καστίλλη που έγινε Ελέφαντας & Κάστρο.


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## nickel (Oct 10, 2008)

Ambrose said:


> Οπότε η omphaloskopisis έγινε omphaloskepsis. Πολύ ενδιαφέρον!


Ναι, η λέξη για το navel gazing ήταν omphaloscopy, αλλά κάποιο καλό παιδί την άλλαξε στην πορεία και τώρα είναι διαδεδομένη η omphaloskepsis.


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## Ambrose (Oct 10, 2008)

nickel said:


> Ναι, η λέξη για το navel gazing ήταν omphaloscopy, αλλά κάποιο καλό παιδί την άλλαξε στην πορεία και τώρα είναι διαδεδομένη η omphaloskepsis.



Ναι. Υπέθεσα από την κατάληξη omphaloskeps-*is* ότι είναι παραφθορά του omphaloscopisis κι όχι του omphaloscopy. Απ' ότι βλέπω το omphaloscopy ακόμα χρησιμοποιείται από μερικούς, αν και το Google μου βγάζει και ιατρικά κείμενα με αυτό. 

Διαβάστε τώρα αυτό για να γελάσετε: 

"Some old inn names underwent a transformation over the years through misunderstanding and misinterpretation. The Bacchanals became the Bag o'Nails; the Infante of Castile became the Elephant and Castle; the God Encompasses became the Goat and Compasses and the Bologne Mouth became the Bull and Mouth. In Blackburn the Boleyn Butchered became the Bull and Butcher. With names like the Fruits of Industry, the Lancashire Lad, and the Labour in Vain folk were expressing themselves, proclaiming an individuality that had few other outlets."


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## sarant (Oct 10, 2008)

Ambrose said:


> Διαβάστε τώρα αυτό για να γελάσετε:
> 
> "Some old inn names underwent a transformation over the years through misunderstanding and misinterpretation. The Bacchanals became the Bag o'Nails; the Infante of Castile became the Elephant and Castle;



Σοβαρά, από εκεί βγήκε; Απίστευτο!


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## Ambrose (Oct 10, 2008)

Έτσι λένε, αλλά μπορεί να είναι και μύθος. Αλλά έχει πολλή πλάκα, ούτως ή άλλως..!


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## nickel (Oct 10, 2008)

Ναι, οι μύθοι διαδίδονται επειδή συνήθως έχουν πολλή πλάκα. Ιδιαίτερα για το Elephant and Castle, απ' όπου περνούσα κάθε μέρα επί δύο χρόνια, είναι διαδεδομένο το παραμύθι της Ινφάντας.

Καλή και έγκυρη πηγή είναι πάντα ο Michael Quinion:

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-ele1.htm
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-goa1.htm


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## Ambrose (Oct 10, 2008)

nickel said:


> Ναι, οι μύθοι διαδίδονται επειδή συνήθως έχουν πολλή πλάκα. Ιδιαίτερα για το Elephant and Castle, απ' όπου περνούσα κάθε μέρα επί δύο χρόνια, είναι διαδεδομένο το παραμύθι της Ινφάντας.



Αλήθεια; Αυτό δεν το ήξερα. 

Και όλα τα άλλα στα οποία αναφέρεται ο σύνδεσμος (Goats and Compasses κλπ.), μύθοι κι αυτοί, φαντάζομαι. Η ιστορία της αληθινής εκδοχής κατά Quinion (ο οποίος την ξέρει με φοβερή βεβαιότητα και την υποστηρίζει με σθένος), εμένα πάντως μου έδωσε έμπνευση για κάτι κλασικά εικονογραφημένα που θέλω να φτιάξω.


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