Thingamajigs and Watchamacallits: Unfamiliar Terms for Familiar Things

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Have you been guilty of catachresis* at work Have you defenestrated* your dictionary in frustration Do you have phloem bundles* stuck in your diastema* Scratching your occiput* now Rod L. Evans's Thingamajigs and Whatchamacallits will help take the mystery out of some of our most obscure words. Containing hundreds of words from agitron (the phenomenon of wiggly lines in comic strips indicating that something is shaking) to zarf (the holder for a paper cone coffee cup), this lively reference will enable you to easily locate your thingamajig or whatchamacallit, be it animal, vegetable, mineral, or punctuation mark. Leave no linguistic oddity unexamined-your brain will thank you. *catachresis- strained, paradoxical, or incorrect use of a word; *defenestrate- to throw out a window; *phloem bundles- stringy bits between the skin and the edible parts of a banana; *diastema- the gap between teeth in a jaw; *occiput- the back part of the head or skull

Reviews

"Ever since Adam assigned names to all living things, we humans have had a passion to label everything. But thousands of bright, colorful, and useful words languish in the shadows of our monumental English language. No longer. Rod Evans gathers many of these forgotten and neglected gems and displays them in the showcase of "Thingamajigs and Whatchamacallits"."
-Richard Lederer, author of "The Gift of Age"

"In this entertaining dictionary, Evans enables you to impress your friends by proving to them that, yes, English has a word for that."
-Tyler Hinman, five-time winner of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament

Author Bio

Rod L. Evans, PhD, is a professor of philosophy at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. He is the author ofEvery Good Boy Deserves Fudge; The Artful Nuance; Sorry, Wrong Answer; Thingamajigs and Whatchamacallits; and many other books. Dr. Evans' lecture topics and philosophical interests include language, trivia, and ethics.