Unashamedly.  I love words.  I love the English language, its vagaries and inconsistencies, its history, its beauty and complexity.  I am fascinated where our words come from, their origins and meanings (etymology), linguistics, and how words can change context over time.

I love books on words, too.  Here are just a few of my favourite word books in my library.  I read them for pleasure but it certainly doesn't hurt that something I love so much forms such a large part of what I do for a living.
Picture
The Little Green Grammar Book by Mark Tredinnick.

I keep this on the shelf above my desk.  It was a gift from my partner a few Christmases ago and it's just wonderful.  I refer to it often and for anyone interested in the hows and whys of grammar, it's an excellent read.

Sections include A Natural History of the Sentence, and Twenty-One Grammar Gaffes And How To Avoid Them.

Mark Tredinnick is a writer and this is a book by a writer, for writers.

He's also written The Little Red Writing Book, as well as novels and poetry.
Picture
Word Watching by Julian Burnside

You may be more familiar with Julian Burnside in his role as a barrister, and brilliant and outspoken advocate for human rights.  But he's also a very keen philologist (yes, I had to look it up too!).

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  Julian's obvious love of English and his enthusiasm for his subject is clear and there's quite a lot of humour peppered throughout as well.
Picture
Watson's Dictionary of Weasel Words by Don Watson

I just adore this book! For anyone who has gritted their teeth at the meaningless jargon tossed around these days by everyone from politicians to advertisers, this book is for you.

You may not be familiar with the term 'weasel words' but if you've ever listened to a politician saying something that clearly means something else, they're using weasel words.  Weasel words are obfuscating, designed to confuse and bamboozle, and generally deflect from the real meaning behind what is being said.  They can also be used to disguise a speaker or a writer who actually has no idea what they're meant to be talking about.  There is another word for that in Australia, but since this is a polite blog, I will leave it to your imagination as to what that word might be!
I hope you've enjoyed this little look at some of my favourite word books.  There's more, such as Bill Bryson's 'Mother Tongue' (who doesn't love Bill?), and I could not complete this post without mentioning the amazing David Crystal, whose wonderful book 'The Fight For English' is something I cherish in my library.  I'd link to his website but for some reason all the links are broken.  I'd definitely recommending checking him out though if you're at all interested in not only where our language came from, but where it's headed.  He's at the forefront of studying how our language is evolving, in particular with the rise of the Internet, 'text speak' and other linguistic changes occurring rapdily as technology advances.
4 Comments